


Wordless

by Zallafic



Category: Fellswap - Fandom, Fellswap Red - Fandom, Undertale, Undertale AU - Fandom
Genre: Confinement, F/M, Gassing, Hospitalization, Implied/Referenced Terrorism, Kidnapping, Mental Health Issues, Minor Character Death, My First Fanfic, Nudity, POV Sans (Undertale), Rape, Reader-Insert gets a name way later, Violence, fellswap, if that isn't your thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-05-19 20:37:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 41
Words: 131,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19363753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zallafic/pseuds/Zallafic
Summary: Waking up from what was expected to be a simply mission Sans finds himself captured and nothing really goes how he expects. Even down to the human he finds himself locked in a room with. ((FellSwap Red))((Point of View from Sans))





	1. Captured

_Please, wake up. I don't want to be alone anymore, I don't want to watch yet another person die._  
  
Sans felt groggy as he heard... something. Opening his eyes the room was a thick blur of dark shadows and bright white fog. One shadow was a constant presence in the room but the other shadows moved back and forth each fading and reappearing with the passing of time. He would try to stand and follow them but slowly realized that he couldn't, drowsily he noticed that his arms were bound behind him by metal chains. They were linked to the floor, so short that he couldn't even stand up. Testing the strength of the metal he pulled hard but moving his body even an inch felt like he wading through mud. Wiggling his arms around he also realized that there wasn't any way to slip his hands from chains. Forced to come to the realization of how little room he had to adjust himself. He tried to settled back down and think, swearing under his breathe as he recalled the event leads up to this moment. Mission, affiliation, gas...  
  
_This was going to be easy, there was no way it could fail, I planned for everything..._  
  
...and now it was just easy to assumed he got captured. His mind raced on how he got separated from the Mutt.  
  
His vision had started to clear enough to noticing that the constant shadow had two eyes that clearly staring straight at him. Those eyes were nervous and fulled with sympathy, though it would feel like pity to his pride. But what was more gut-wrenching, even sickening. Was just how ...dead those eyes looked. Dull, no light, no hope. "What?!" Sans would yelled at those eyes, they flinched and turned from him. Sans was able to work out from his still blurred vision that it was a human clutching a ragged blanket like a scared child.  
  
No longer having that hallow dead stare on him. Sans took a better look around the room and the human, which he quickly figured out was a female due to her nakedness. Was currently sitting on a shabby bed, no pillow or cover on it. In other corner of the room was a small makeshift bathroom. More so a bucket in the corner really, and one simple door. As his mind collected all the new information and Sans realized he was naked too. It was embarrassing and disturbing to realize he had been stripped at some point but it matter very little with the fact he was chained in an unknown place.  
  
Breathing deeply Sans relaxed and tried to gather his magic, maybe a bone spear from the ground to break the chains or even a knife to cut himself free. But when trying to gather the energy from his bones nothing came to his hand, nothing came form around him. Quickly  he realize his magic wasn't responding, it felt fuzz and his mind drifted back to the gas.  
  
_Everything was blocked out by white smoke, blinded in a completely lit room._  
  
He remembered charging through a misty white gas during the mission and for a while it didn't do anything to him. In hindsight, it was most likely a magic-suppressant. But how he did not sense his magic fading he didn't understand. Focusing on the now he looked up and-  
  
_Loudly the alarms blasted as he ran in with confidant._  
  
It was... quiet.  
  
Was he hallucinating? He had expected something to happen after waking up. Someone threatening his life or being beaten. But it was only unbearably quiet, he could even start to hear the human breathing softly from across the room. Yet his mind would be getting flashes of other things happening. Twisting his fingers he was able to play with some of the chain links that held his hands behind him. Rubbing them together Sans took a moment to wonder how long it would take to wear them down enough to snap them.  
  
Glancing back over to the human she had relaxed again, but just sat there like a broken doll. "Hey, Human! Where are we!?" He demanded an answer and the sudden noise seemed to startle the woman. She flitched as if someone was going to hit her before looking back over at him. Those painfully dead eyes, it was like looking into a void that stared back at him and just made him want to shrink further into a corner than he already was in. Thankfully she turned away again but annoyingly did not asnwer, the question itself seem to make her even more depressed.  
  
Sans played with the chain a bit more, trying to pull against the welding seams or anything he thought might be a weak point. Annoying as they felt new but it wasn't like he could do much else. Or was there? Glancing back over to the human for more questions. This time speaking with less of a demanding tone, firm but not trying to startle her. "Why am I here? Some sort of prisoner or-?"  
  
_"Do it again! He is starting to wake up." Sans could feel some sort of grainy wind shoved against his mouth._  
  
The woman didn't have an asnwer for him again but his mind started just trying to fill in the blanks, something to distract him as now she was staring at him again. He had only seen that look from corpses, it was unsettling to see it from something that was still breathing.  
  
Replaying what he could remember in his head, he was on a mission to... gather information, or take out someone? Both maybe, but he clearly remembers it was an anti-monster based mission. Papyrus was with him right? The thought struck him that maybe these bastards killed his brother and captured him... but Sans felt like they only got separated. He hope that his memory was right and it wasn't him trying to convince himself of it. The idea of papyrus being dead, was admittedly pushed so deep in the back of his mind that Sans convinced himself there was no way.  
  
Reasons to be captured not killed came to mind. One for sure was integration, it would make sense to put him in a random holding room while they got that set up, maybe he woke up earlier than they expected? Hell even he was surprised that he wasn't in a bound chair with people hovering over him. Second was he was just being kept as a prisoner over later use against the queen over something, maybe just so this group could have a real monster to torture and was just going to be used to show how brutal group could be. Sans didn't like that thought.  
  
Looking over to the human again, it was strange to be in a room with someone else. Someone that wasn't chained up or being held in any way. Hell she even had a bed, a want-be blanket and somewhere to go to the bathroom. Not a five star hotel but much better off than he was, arms chained behind him to the floor in a corner. Forced into a sitting position, hell he doubted he could lay down comfortable with how little space he had in the corner. But getting a better look at woman he realized that she was not in good health. Thin and sickly by human standards, he could see at a few parts were the curve of her bones showed under all that skin. But Sans wanted a better look at her.  
  
"Hey." He called out and watched as she came out of some spaced out trace she was in, looking right at him fully. The sinking feeling of her void like eyes crept down his spine. "come here." He spoke meekly, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear him. She furrowed her brows and gave a defeated sigh, just looking depressed again before hanging her head low. Her hair hung low and blocked him from reading her face, annoyed Sans repeated himself. "...come here." This time she shook her head in reply, clearly a no but Sans felt better with just some form of reply. "Why not!?" He went back to demanding, and she gave him a pained look before turning her head to the over end of the room.  
  
She was ignoring him! Somehow the just pissed him off greatly, about ready to yell at her he glanced up as she raised a shaky hand to point at the ceiling. Freezing Sans became aware of a very small camera in the other corner in the room, it had a domed shaped cover so you couldn't see the really camera under it, position wise. It was like it was perfectly placed to see everything around him. Or rather he was put in this corner because the camera would be able to see his every move.  
  
Sans started to grit his teeth and let out a low rumble that could be mistaken as a growl before exploding. "SO YOUR JUST GOING TO WATCH ME LIKE A CHAINED DOG HUH?" Sans ignored the fact the human had curled up with the blanket clutching her it like a scared child as he continued. "HOW ABOUT NOT BEING COWARDS AND COME DOWN HERE HUH? I DEMAND TO KNOW YOUR INTENTIONS, OR AM I JUST HERE FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT??! I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET EVER LAYING A SINGLE HAND ON ME!!" Sans would continue for a while, running out of things to shout at a camera and just struggled against the chain with renewed vigor. Only calming down as he felt his bones starting to leak from being rubbed raw.  
  
Turning himself slightly he would start kicking at the walls trying to damage them mostly out of rage but also to hopefully get some sort of response. As he was quieted down the human uncurled herself from her ball and watched with a bit of fear as Sans thrashed about. He could just feel her pity without looking at her as he tired himself out, slumping against the wall breathing heavily. She would slowly tiptoed off the bed and inch closer to him. Glancing up Sans could see that her body ached with ever step. Her skin had dark spots and badly healing cuts scattered over her body like she was beat regularly.  
  
Humming angrily at her and she paused for a moment but continued to inch closer. Stopping and sitting just out of reach of his leg. Giving him such a look of pity that made his ego psychically hurt. Slowly she would reach out with her hands to touch his foot glancing up at him scared, looking ready to jump back like ten feet if he tired to lash out again. Curious and exhausted Sans didn't move. Her hand moved down and began to rub the sore spot on his foot where he was kicking the wall, her touch was careful and light.  
  
Staring at her confused it took a moment to figure out that she was trying to comfort him, but being too scare to get close to him. That made sense with how jumpy she had been, and with how much he has lashed out. Sighing heavily Sans let his head rest against the wall of the corner. Which caused her to look back up at the noise, Sans had the unpleasant moment of staring back into her eyes again. Still not seeing any sign of emotion, but at least her face expressed emotion while her eyes stayed dull.  
  
Once Sans was able to get somewhat comfortable actually looking into her eyes he found words again. "Human, whats your name?" Again she looked down depressed, her shoulders slumped and her skin stretched over her bones a bit making them just slightly more visible.  He did not get a reply and it was becoming more clear that either she had no asnwer or the asnwer was too hard to muster replying.  
  
A second thought stuck him. "Can... you not talk?" Without looking up she shook her head no, Sans let out a overly dramatic sigh and let his head bump against the other side of the corner annoyed. Glance down he noticed how much it pissed him off when she slumped down like this, her hair would block her face making her completely unable to read. Looking up at the camera with scorn he continued. "Do you know sign?" She did not move at all and Sans figured that meant no.  
  
He wanted to continue questioning her but he was tired and sore. God part of him just wanted to stand and stretch. Plus he didn't want to admit it but it felt nice on his sore feet when the woman went back to rubbing them. Though his arms hurt a lot more, if she was going to fawn over him maybe she would reach over himself and do the same to his arms or his shoulders? But then again with her so close he started to notice a small smell from her, it was piety but he wasn't sure if he wanted her all over him smelling like B.O.  
  
It would become almost unbearably quiet between the two expect for a small tapping noise that he didn't know where it was coming from. Starting to fall asleep Sans was temped to ignore it but as it got louder he realized what it was. The human noticed too and jumped away from him as if he was acid. Stomping footsteps came down from what sounded like a echoing hallway and suddenly the door would loudly unlock and fly open. A brute of a man came in and went straight for the woman, punching her hard enough to knock her to the ground. Adding a few kicks in once for good measure before yelling. "Told you whore to leave the monster alone!"  She would stay down and almost unmoving on the ground expect for a slight shaking.  
  
The brute looked over to Sans with disgust before smiling wickedly. "So your the one they got, not much to you. Just bones Ha!" Sans could tell the brute felt proud of himself for that joke. Sans glared at him and opened his mouth to yell back but the brute was already reaching down to grab his face, holding it tightly and speaking in a commanding voice.  
  
"Now when we get- **FUCK**!" The man screamed as sans was able to wiggle his jaw enough to bite down hard on one of the brute's fingers with his sharp teeth.  
  
Panicking the man pulled back hard trying to gain control over his hand, Sans could feel his own neck pop from the force but just held on. Desperate the brute started using his other hand to repeatedly punch Sans in the side of the head. The few good hits to the scar over Sans' eye socket and caused his vision to blur, forcing him to let go. Barely able to see the brute running for the door before passing out. The of the taste of blood lingered in his mouth.  



	2. Muzzle

Sans was waking up painfully slow as his arms felt broken and twisted behind his back. His skull throbbed hard and his whole body was sore. He felt beaten up like a long training day with Alpyhs. But worst of all was something that felt like a vice grip around his jaw. Wiggling lightly in his sleepy state Sans realized he couldn't correct the position he was in to be more comfortable.  
  
Sans' eye snapped fully open once he remember where he was and what had happened. The taste of the brute's blood was still lingering in his mouth. Looking down at himself he could see dried blood on his bones and a trail leading from him to the door where the man ran out. Darting his eyes around the room Sans realized that he was alone, which he remembers expecting to wake up like the first time, alone. Now is was just more concerning, he had not moved rooms for sure but maybe they took the woman out because she 'wouldn't leave the monster alone' as the brute said. The thought of being chained down alone wasn't pleasant.  
  
Sans tired stretching his jaw, but something was holding it closed like a vice. It felt like metal with breath holes in it and held way too tight against him. Making him be only able to barely open his teeth to make a few noises. Mentally he laughed, as he recalled feeling the bone on the finger he bit down on the brutes hand. Pleased with himself, he hopes the bastard has to have the finger removed. To Sans it was worth it for the price of getting a muzzle forced on.  
  
Now without the human in the room it became deathly quiet, before he could at least hear her breathing, now he found himself moving the chain around his arms just for the noise. Boredly testing the limits of it again, hoping to find something new but only figuring out where the padlock holding the chains together was. Pulling on it didn't do much of anything so he let it go, listening to the lock slide back and forth against the chain links.  
  
The room was so quiet that he thought he was hearing noises but after focusing on it, he could make out a mechanical whirling sound. The whirl of something slowly moving back and forth, focusing or panning out. Looking up Sans figured it was the camera making the sound and while he couldn't see it because of the dome but he was starting to work out when it was looking more at him or more focused out. It seemed to do with in regular intervals.  
  
Sans moved around, kicked a few times, growled a couple more but making bits of noise or moving about didn't seem to make the camera refocus on him, so he figure it was on auto and no one was manning it. An interesting little piece of information that served him no purpose right now, he made a mental note of it in case it would. Though he highly doubted that at any time soon he was out of sight of the camera.  
  
Sans found himself almost falling asleep from boredom again when a familiar sound stuck him. Heavy footfalls echoed from behind the door, though much less rushed this time. A different human came into the room after unlocking it, he would leave the door slightly open behind him. Sans pulled against his chains as his body just wanted to dash for the exit. The man chuckled at Sans struggle. "Heard ya were being a bit nippy. You learn real quick things only get worst the more you struggle." The man advised Sans but he would just glare back, letting off a low rumble with how little he could open his mouth.  
  
"Like a dog I swear." The man complained and truthfully Sans felt like a chain animal at this point, it was humiliating. Looking at his wristwatch the man wrote down some notes on a clipboard while Sans drifted his eyes to what the man brought with him. It looked like a oxygen tank with a hose and mask attached. Sans attention was brought back up as the man spoke again. "Now dont fight it or I'll have someone come in to strap your head still."   
  
Sans became to panic and show more aggression to the man, but it did very little as his head was forced back against the crook of the wall. The mask was held over metal muzzle on his mouth. The smell was extremely familiar and brought him back to the mission.   
  
_Sans could see his brother behind him when glancing over his shoulder.Then the two moved in different directions. Mutt backing up to block off incoming guards and himself moving forward into what he figured was the control room. It was filled already with this smoke as a deterrence, laughing it off as he was a skeleton without human lungs. Quickly he paced through the room and headed for the computer, bring up any records he could find quickly. Most were blocked by pass codes, and Sans had prepared a flash drive for this. Leaning down he searched for a place to plug it in. For some reason it was strenuous for him to stand back up but he had other things on his mind and pay it no thought. While waiting for the program to work on the pass codes he started working on a direct line to Uydne. But the numbers started to fuzz in his vision-_  
  
The gas made him sleepy and he slowly started losing the feeling of any magic in him. His bones felt dry and brittle and he started to slump loosely in the mans grip. Just before passing out the mask was removed and Sans could barely focus on the man as he looked at his watch and wrote down more notes. Taking a few pictures of Sans on his phone before leaving, Sans wasn't aware enough to know if he said anything on the way out.   
  
Relaxing back he felt kinda high, obviously drugged but not in a good way. Like he was floating and dying at the same time. Sometimes the room would blur but the dying feeling would settle back in and he would snap back more aware. Reminding him how uncomfortable he was or just how helpless. It felt like forever and the numbness of the room was wearing on him mentally.   
  
_His body shifted as it was raised from the ground and dragged. Every part of him wanted to thrash out but he could only shake and let out growls. He felt words being floated about as humans talked about him. None of it was understandable._  
  
He found it hard to tell what was from the gas or real but noise of someone walking down a hallway was starting to get burned into his mind. Huffing behind the door someone struggled to get the lock undone. But once they got it open, Sans was startled to see the woman slung over someones shoulder. The human was tired and huffed before just dropping her from full height onto the ground. She whined in pain and rolled slightly, but Sans could tell she was trying to stay as quiet and still as possible.  
  
 _Barely able to stay awake he knew that he was tossed to the floor, two figures started drilling metal and chain in the corner. Sans could barely move his head to watch them as they worked. His vision suddenly blacking out as he felt himself being moved again-_  
  
The human glance over at Sans for a moment, in his hazed mental state he could make out a uniform on this person, but it wasn't ranked from what he could see. They left without a word and harshly snapped the lock shut. Once the footsteps faded from hearing the woman moved, her head lifted to search for something.  
  
 _His head pounded at the light in the room just after barely opening his eyes, a figure paced back and forth in the room until they noticed him awake. He felt like they said something but he heard nothing._  
  
Crawling over to the blanket in the room she pulled it into her chest and curled into a ball, crying softly into the ragged fabric.   
  
_Someone was crying, they seemed to never stop-_  
  
Sans looked her over to see red marks on her that were just starting to bruise. But something that caught his attention more was the smell, it was awful. She smell of blood, sex, and mostly of human B.O.   
  
_Everything was blurred, he couldn't see. Was he starting to see smells? It was white and black-_  
  
Sans never understood WHY humans had just a distinct bodily smell but it was strong on her and it was awful. He wished that the stupid muzzle on his face would cover his nose but of course he wasn't that lucky. Putting two and two together wasn't hard for Sans to assume she was raped, and while a part of him said he should feel bad for this little crying human he just wanted to get away from her. The smell of her, the sound of her crying, and while she wasn't looking at him he didn't know if he could look her straight in the face with those dead looking eyes of hers.   
  
_Someone watched him-_  
  
Everything about her was awful, but as his mind started to clear form the gas he found himself not minding the sound of her breathing once she finally stopped crying. He could only assume she fell asleep like that on the floor and it was nice to have a noise that wasn't unbearable stillness or himself.  
  
He felt like he could sleep to the peacefulness of it but was too uncomfortable to fully commit to sleeping. Besides... the hallucinations had just stopped and he felt that dreaming was about as close as he was going to get to starting them all over.  
  
He tried ignoring the fact he was forced to just watch someone sleep, not that he could do anything else. He couldn't tell how much time passed as he just watched her exist.  
  
Sans noticed after a long time she started to slowly twitch, curl, stretch, things he was finding himself extremely jealous over it. She moaned lightly in pain and moved slowly while awaking up. Sitting herself up against the side of the bed from the floor, Sans thought she might get up on it but it seemed to exhaust her to just sit up.   
  
It was strange to watch her move, since he could see how some of her bones poked from beneath her skin. Curled up her spine was prominent but also when she breathed deeply he could see some of her ribs. Then it started again, she thankfully wasn't a loud crier but he could still make out the soft noises. He sighed annoyed and leaned back trying to ignore it.  
  
It seemed as if he sighed too loudly because the woman turned to look back and he was locked into a stare into her damned eyes again. He could feel himself looking angrily at them, they were the worst part about her and absolutely awful to look at. Sans didn't realize just how bad of a face he was making until she got even more upset, struggling to stand she used the bed to walk along it to the complete over side of the room with her ragged blanket.   
  
She sat down out of his sight and cried a bit louder now, but tired to cover the sound with the blanket. It didn't help with the noise and now Sans actually started to feel bad. Unable to speak he tried humming a soft tone to call her back, but she didn't hear it over her own crying. Forcing Sans to listen, spending who knows how long until she stopped again.  
  
The whirling noise of the camera would shift back and forth, most likely trying to keep an eye on both of them. Sans glared up at it knowing someone was most likely working it now and could see his fury in real time. Though it was interesting to know that corner was difficult for the camera to see, too bad he couldn't move over there. He could imagine trying to dig a hole in the wall if he had the freedom to move around like her. It felt like a burning in him as he stared out at where she was, why had she given up? She had so much more of a chance of getting out than he did, hell they even took her out of this room. He couldn't really put himself in her shoes to be able to relate.  
  
Watching carefully Sans stared in envy when she stood slowly, her body shaking a bit from pain but she stood, and then she started stretching. He would move his legs a bit trying to copy some of that reilf. But found himself more draw to watching how her shoulder blades moved under her skin or her hips traced back and forth. God did he want to move about and started trying to trick himself that watching her stretch would give the same relief as if he did it himself.  
  
The woman looked back over when she was done and stared at him squirming back and forth just trying to get comfortable. The look of pity fell over her face before she started to move closer to him, dragging that nasty blanket with her. Even worst bringing back that awful smell closer and closer. Sans moved his head away in hopes to avoid it, it caused her to pause for a moment as she stared trying to read him.  
  
She must have taken it as if he was scared of her because she lowered herself to the ground and crawled over the rest of the way, trying to be as small as possible. Only stopping when she was in kicking range. Sans put a foot against her to move her away but was harshly reminded how weak he was from the gassing earlier. Her thin hands would lightly grasp his foot and rub it lightly, her touches where feather like.  
  
Looking up the woman Sans noticed how she was holding a corner of her blanket in her mouth, a though which make him want to hurl, both her and the object where just so gross that combining them was like a nightmare.  
  
What was the real nightmare is when she removed the blanket from her mouth and used the wet spot on his leg, the warm wet feeling of the blanket made him jump and he let out a low rumble. She froze completely still and looking up at him with a pleading look. Pausing sans looked down at this leg to notice that the spot she was rubbing had the dried blood. She was staring at him trying to get permission to wipe the blood off of him.  
  
Sans thought it over, he had already gotten use to the dried blood on his bones. And it was sickening to have her wipe that nasty spit all over him with an even more gross blanket, plus having to deal with the fact of her gross bodily smell right under his nose.   
  
He sighed, and just relaxed. She took it as permission to continue. Right now he would prefer this over her going to the other side of the room and crying or something. Really he just didn't want everything to become so still that he could hear the whirling of the camera. Sans closed his eyes and turn his head trying to ignore all of the grossest that was happening to him. But closing his eyes just make him focus on it more.  
  
Listening to her breathing and Sans could pick up on a raspy texture to it. He wondered if she had a lung infection or was just sick in general. Though looking at her he wouldn't be surprised nor... would he be surprised if her trouble breathing was because of trauma. A mix of both perhaps.  
  
Despite the grossness of her it was strangely intimate having her wipe him down. Was it really just pity or was she that kind? Maybe she just wanted something to focus on something, Sans could understand that since he was incredibility bored. Finishing the woman just brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them, keeping the blanket squished between herself and rested her head on her knees. "Hmmmfp..." Sans hummed to the woman to get her attention. She looked up with those horrible eyes for a moment to see if he would continue but Sans just stared at her expecting.  
  
"mmmhfp" She replied in a much quieter tone as if the noise was painful for her to make and lowered her eyes again. Clutching herself Sans realized how much the woman looked like she needed a hug, though it was one that he sure as hell wasn't able to give. It was depressing that he couldn't even do that and he ended up hanging his head down as well. Just staring at her feet when a soft broken hum passed by. Glancing up the woman was holding herself tightly with her eyes closed. Her brow furrowed as she was focusing hard on the tune, struggling with keeping the notes flowing smoothly.  
  
Resting his head back Sans tried to place the broken tune, it seemed familiar but she wasn't able to get enough of it right for him to really put a name to it. Sans never did feel himself drifting to sleep.


	3. Bloody Lock

He really didn't know when he drifted to sleep, or how long he was out. But Sans woke up suddenly as the human stumbled over his leg trying to rush away from him. Falling to the ground next to the bed and cowering with her blanket. The door would be opened suddenly and two men came in. The one was the clipboard man from earlier and the other... sans was happy they couldn't see his smirk. The other was clutching his bandage hand, oh if only he could see if the bastard lost a finger or not.  
  
The one with the clipboard moved towards the woman and Sans wanted to watch but the brute came over quickly with his good hand and punched Sans hard in the face. Sans just trained his eyes on the bastard almost daring to hit him again. "You cocky little fuck I wish I could just snap your bones in every finger!" He would punch Sans again. He expected it really so he didn't struggle, Sans didn't want to give them the pleasure of seeing him in distress. Keeping his eyes trained hard on the bastard.  
  
The one with the clipboard placed a hand on the others shoulder. "Hold up, we need to get some pictures first-" The other took a more careful look at Sans. "Wasn't he covered in more blood than this?" Sans glanced down at himself, sure he still had light smears but a lot of it was gone. The brute noticed as well and growled. "Why does it matter?" The other sighed and looked at his clipboard, flipping through Sans could see a few photos that were most likely him.  
  
"Can't have anything that looks out of order or faked." He put simply and Sans started to piece things together. Wondering if they were really ransoming him. "Well just put some more blood on him then." The brute like it was the most obvious thing in the world. The other sighed and before interjecting the brute stomped over to the woman. "And sure we can find some fresh blood." He chuckled and grabbed her arm as she struggled. Placing a hand on his forearm she tried pulling away but it was pointless.  
  
Using his free hand the bastard pulled a pocket knife out and cut a slit in her palm and the woman let out a breathless scream. It wasn't loud but sounded like a chocking animal. As blood poured from her hand the bastard dragged her back over to Sans and started waving her bloodied hand his way. Making sure new splatters spread across his bones.  
  
Sans eyes shrank down to pin-pricks as he felt himself wanting to murder the bastard on the spot, getting a laugh from Sans' expression he tossed the woman down to the floor. Now that he was getting a reaction from the skeleton it urged the bastard more and he started kicking the woman. Sans pulled against his chains a bit in fury, he tired not giving them anything but now he just wanted to jump up and kill him. He wanted to forced a flurry of bone attacks through his bastards torso and watch him bleed out-  
  
"Say cheese." The man with the clipboard said as and Sans looked up confused. He just snapped a photo of Sans in that state and it made him hate both of them more. The man with the clipboard straighten himself as he looked over the photo. "Yeah that will be good enough for now." The brute huffed annoyed. "So can I keep beating the shit out of him now?" The other sighed and started for the door. "You got some hits in dont waste any more time."  
  
The clipboard man didn't wait up for the bastard and left, which the bastard decided that getting a few more hits in against Sans head was worth testing the others patience. Taking his good hand and he beat against his skull a few times before quickly leaving the two alone in the locked room once more. Sans sighed in pain as his face throbbed, mostly around his eyes and forehead. His vision a little blurred. The metal muzzle protecting his jaw funny enough. Looking to his side the woman shook lightly and whimpered. She wasn't crying yet but the tears were on the edge of falling.  
  
She crawled over to her blanket and used a corner of it around her hand like a make-shift bandage, her good hand pressing down to apply pressure to the wound. Sans studied her as she laid on the floor. Questioning himself on why he got so worked up about her. Sure she seemed helpless but she had also tired to be kind to him every time that she could. He had known this woman for what?... great how long had he been here? Felt like a day or two assuming that when he slept it was for long. If he had only slept a little each time maybe not even a full day yet. Hell if he knew.  
  
Once she was able to calm down she sat up against the side of the bed, again not having the energy to get on top of it. Clutching the parts of her that were kicked, finally she started crying softly. Sans expected the waterworks to start sooner so he was a bit surprised she held that long.  
  
Thrashing around and kicking the wall Sans was just frustrated and he didn't care if it scared the other or not. Though glancing at her it seems she understood that he was just venting. And vent he did, pulling on the chains until he heard his joints pop angrily and rub his bones raw. Kicking the slight dent he was starting to make in the wall as well. Both tiring themselves out in there preferred way, resting to the sounds of their own breathing in the quiet room.  
  
Which would put them both of much higher alert when the sound of footsteps could be hear again, they walked with much less conviction than the others. The woman relaxed a bit hearing the loud fumble of keys, almost like hundreds of them on one ring. Sans could see the face of a skittish human through the door crack before they left a tray of food on the ground. Quickly slamming the door shut and locking it. The food was just some sort of slop on a plate and... was that even enough food for a child? Let alone a adult human like- Sans let his eyes wander to how thin she was. Sighing loudly it just made sense.  
  
The woman looked at him before looking back at the food, the trek from where she was all the way to the door seemed like miles for how much pain she was in. She crawled over on her one good hand and knees before sitting down in front of the food. Sans expected her to tear straight into with force and stared expectingly. Maybe she was waiting to make sure it was safe? Wouldn't be the first time someone stormed into the room.  
  
But then she picked up a piece and lifted it to show him, as if offering it? He realized just how he was staring at her and acting. She must assume that he wanted some? Huffing loudly he snapped his head to the side refusing it. As if he could bring himself to take food form someone that looks like THAT. After a few moments Sans could hear her start to eat and he relaxed, content to lazily watch her eat. Which she did painfully slow while holding her gut.  
  
Sans debated if it hurt her to eat? Maybe it was because one of the kicks hit her in the gut or was food painful because of how skinny she was? Sans felt his mind wander back, a concern he had been pushing down was where that Mutt- no Papyrus was. Maybe somewhere else here too and these bastards were using both of them against the queen or something? God he hoped that his brother had gotten away.  
  
If they needed pictures of him looking progressively worst they must be threatening someone with them. He could hear it in his head now 'If you dont hurry we will keep this up til he is dead!' and sans added an eccentric evil laugh for his own amusement. He figured if they were using him like that then either they wanted something from monsters, supervillain comic book wise it could be money? Really though it might be he was just a tool to keep monsters off these bastards tracks for a while. 'Get any closer and we will kill him!' Sans gave a funny voice to the line in his head.  
  
Sighing loudly he figured it could also be the gas, maybe they were also testing the effects of it- no they were doing that for sure since that guy was taking notes. But he doubted that was the main reason otherwise why the pictures or blood splatter? He could see the fury Papyrus would have after seeing the pictures and Sans doubted that his brother could control himself from breaking the closest thing. Alphys would most likely have a similar reaction. Would the queen react? Inwardly sure but she would keep face, which is what he should have done.  
  
Sans banged his head lightly against the wall annoyed at himself. Looking up he noticed the woman had moved besides him while he was lost in thought. Drifting off into her own thoughts it seemed. But she looked up expectingly also pleading. And lean just a little closer to him. Sighing Sans could see she wanted to lean against him, most likely for comfort. He grunted and just ignored her, which she tested it out. Leaning against him and since he didn't react she stayed.  
  
Her dumb blanket fell a little bit over his own leg but she held the rest of it in her lap, part of it still tied around her wounded hand. The woman was weirdly bony and soft at the same time while leaning against sans, she mostly leaned on the side of him and her head rested on his shoulder. Focusing on her he could now feel her breath softly, as if she had fallen asleep quickly and he might be imaging it but maybe felt her heartbeat too? Her neck was against part of his upper arm and he knew humans could feel the neck for a pulse so that could be it.  
  
While he was focusing on her it occurred to him that her smell wasn't bothering him anymore, kinda shocked with himself that he got use to that awful smell. Annoying though it was starting to bother him the weight she was placing on his bent shoulder, for how every long he had been here his arm was forced behind his back the whole time. He had started to get use to all that but her weight just brought all that pain back around again. Looking down at her face she seemed somewhat peaceful. So it wasn't a huge concern to wiggle her off just yet, he can deal with it.  
  
The woman would only nap for a shortly before waking up, moving her arms and legs out to stretch sleepily and Sans just whined in jealousy. She froze mid movement to look at him for the noise, bring attention to it as he wouldn't have noticed that he made the noise to begin with. Sans turned his head away a bit embarrassed and she slowly moved away from him.  
  
Sans watch her carefully move out of sight of himself behind the bed and continue stretching. Which he guess was kind but even more annoying because now he couldn't watch and pretend that was his own sore joints, though he would hear a small pop now and then that he could pretend was from his own bones. Once she was done she pulled herself up to the sit on the side of the bed with her blanket.  
  
Obliviously bored she started tying loose ends of the blanket together trying to repair some rips and holes. Watching her for a bit Sans realized he needed to find something to pass the time as well. Moving a bit he was able to grab a hold of the padlock that held the chains together, it was pretty basic but thick. And the keyhole was too small to reach a claw into to pick. Pulling and prodding he tried most ways he could think of trying to snap the lock, but his strength just wasn't there to do it.  
  
After a while of tying threads together the woman looked over the metal rattling Sans was making. Curious she walk over dragging the blanket with her, and leaned over just enough to see what Sans was messing with. He tried his best to show the padlock in his hands and whined pathetically. Sighing the woman glance over at the camera without moving her head and Sans got the hint.  
  
After a few moments he started tapped the keyhole again to get her attention, just trying his luck and asking again. She seemed to space out as she went into a deep thought, a small bit of life seemed to spark in her eyes as she got an idea. Then sighed again as she inspected him, pointing to the padlock then to his head. Sans didn't quite understand so she carefully reach and touched the lock in his hand then moved her hand behind his head.  
  
Her finger poked something that swung back and forth and Sans put together that their was another lock holding the muzzle on his skull. Sighing he leaned his head back thinking, even if she could get the one on his hands off there was the second. What if they were different keys? Most likely knowing his loousey luck.  
  
Giving her a determined look he tapped the keyhole of the padlock in his hands. If he could get his hands free then he could figure something out later for the muzzle. The human just stared back at him, seeming to test his resolve with that unnerving stare. Sans focused on her eyes without backing down and tried to find something other than the hopeless void that stared at him. It took a few quiet moments before she moved, a small curl to her lips as she smirked at him. And for a moment Sans thought he saw a bit of hope. It dulled in an instant but she started to stand slowly.  
  
Sans watched her hoping that she was still with him on this, quietly the frail woman wandered around the room with her blanket. She seemed to have more purpose than just pacing so Sans watched and figured she was looking for something. If they were still on the same page then maybe something to pick the lock with.  
  
Faintly Sans could hear a whirling noise of the camera, it seemed... louder than normal. He looked up at it even though he couldn't see through the dome. It would stop and start frequently as if the person controlling it trying hard to keep track of something. The only thing moving though was-  
  
"Hmfp! Hmfp!" Sans would call out to get her attention, she snapped back and stared at him confused. Quickly turning scared by his panicked expression, training his eyes between her and the camera trying to convent his thoughts. She would look where he was looking just to see the camera. Fear rose in her as little bumps crawled down her skin for a moment.  
  
Confused she looked back to Sans then the door. Sans was sure the camera picked up on him trying to get her to mess with his lock, if they came before for her getting too close he feared what they would do for this now. Panic stayed in the room for a while as neither wanted to move. But as no other noise besides the camera came they someone relaxed. The woman sat on the sit of the bed and held her head lightly as it throbbed. Sans felt a bit bad for starting a pointless panic but he was SURE something was about to happen.  
  
Once the woman got a hold of herself again she slumped down to the floor lazily and laid on the side of the bed. Though Sans noticed it was out of view of the camera somewhat, which he thought she would avoid after the scare but- he watched her start picking at the fabric the bed was made from. Sometimes using her teeth to break a strand or two.  
  
It was weird watching her do this and he was a bit dumbfounded on why she was doing it. Soon enough she was able to remove enough to start a big enough hole for her to get her fingers in it and pull. Once it was wide enough she put her whole hand in the mattress and hissed in pain. Sans let out a confused whine at her but she continued without acknowledging him.  
  
He would start to get the idea as he watched a metal coil being dragged out of the mattress, it fought hard to stay inside and connect but Sans found himself rooting for the little underdog in this arm wrestle. He could see if now, bending that metal just enough to make a lock pick. He was getting a bit excited and mentally cheered her on.  
  
All that excitement instantly disappeared at the noise of footfalls and Sans cursed himself, then his captors. Either they had a super late response time with the camera or they got another reason to come in. Either way the woman panicked and dropped the coil which happily snapped back into the mattress. She would push the ragged end of the fabric back in place hoping it looked good enough to not be noticed.  
  
She barely had enough time to move away from anything as she scooted against the nearest wall in fear. The door opened easily and a human in uniform stood in the doorway. "Come here ya fucking little whore." He commanded and pointed to the floor right below himself. The woman started shaking and holding herself but not moving. The man waited for her for a moment "... **Don't** make me come in there with that **Thing** in the room." He would threaten and the woman looked over at Sans quickly and ripped the blanket bandage from her hand before racing to her feet, stumbling her way over to the man.  
  
The tall man would grab her by the hair and pull her up slightly, causing her to moan out in pain. "We will see how many more times you have to make me repeat himself." The man talked down to her as he dragged her by the hair out of the room and quickly slamming shutting the door. Sans glared at the door as the two sets of footsteps faded from hearing.  
  
Groaning loudly he looked around the room... alone, he was alone again and it just burned him up inside. It reminded him of just how painfully quiet this room was, how much his body was sore from being to stay in one spot and a single position. He... needed a distraction.


	4. Alone

Sans sat still for a long while, just trying to ignore the depressing elements of the room or how he was stuck. He felt like he would start to hear things because of the awful silence in the room. Even the camera wasn't whirling, it didn't need to move since he couldn't move away.  
  
 _Bones attacks that pierced through metal._  
  
Grunting as he grabbed the padlock near his hands, tracing each detail carefully. Sans was able to make a clear mental image of what it looked like and roughly what the size of the key would have to be to open it. Working out that it would be slightly bigger than a normal door key.   
  
Letting the padlock go he moved back to a more comfortable position. Between the lock on his hands and the muzzle he needed at least two keys so far. Thinking it through Sans figured that after the lock on the door to this room they was a long hallway. No one had to really stop on the way in here from how the footsteps sounded. But he didn't doubt that they was a fourth lock somewhere in the building before hitting an exit.  
  
 _Loose steel jiggled as he felt his body being moved. The noise of a metal snap echoed and he was let go by the hands holding him. But the feeling was replaced with the weight of something unmoving holding him down from behind._  
  
Thinking back to the key man that brought the food and the range of jingles he remembered was disheartening. That was a LOT of keys and judging how long it took someone to come here after seeing something on camera the building as huge, or poorly designed. Both of those options would mean he could easily get lost trying to run.  
  
 _The tapping sound of his and his brother steps._  
  
Plus there was no real way for him to find out how the building was laid out prior to trying to make a break for it. Sans thought back to the absent woman, realizing she might know her way around given how they do take her out. But how would he go about asking her that? She couldn't speak and he had a muzzle trapping his jaw shut.   
  
_He could feel a void behind two eyes, they spoke but were wordless._  
 _A void that begged him not too, he felt it but didn't understand._  
  
"Mhhf... nhuuckk." Sans tested his voice and he guess that he could try slowly sounding out words, for now that was on a list of things to do when she got back. He looked back to the door for a moment wondering how long that would take. Figuring she would need time to calm down as well. The man that picked her up was calling her a whore so it stands to reason he collected her to rape her. He really didn't know if that was happening to her but- between the smell, her bruise placement, and her reactions. It was his best guess.   
  
_Shadows entered the room and ripped away the void, the smell burnt on his mind._  
  
Slowly a dark thought came to mind once more, should he take the risk of making sure Papyrus wasn't somewhere in the building as well before bolting? It would GREATLY decrease his chance of getting out, but not risking it meant he also could mean he could come back with reinforcements. If... they didn't kill his brother because he ran first. Sighing that was place at the top of the list, figure out if papyrus was here, then bug the woman about the layout. But he was also assuming he could get her to snag a lock pick or something for him.   
  
Sans was starting to really hate how much was relying on his woman, but what choice did he have? Not like he could sweet talk a guard because he decided to try and chew off someones finger on the first day. Not to say he regretted that but it REALLY wasn't a good idea in hindsight. Quickly distracting himself with more thoughts of how much more he wish he could do to the people here.  
  
 _Dark shadows hovered over him laughing as a white fog spread._  
Bones attacks ripping through the ground spearing everyone of those bastards...  
 _The darkness poured from the shadows as he could feel them scream out._  
Then  blasters would comes out...  
 _Everything around him for fade into white fog, they were gone?_  
  
Snapping out of his torture fantasy Sans noticed the sound of the camera going on auto, moving back and forth at set periods. A little disappointed at himself for not figuring out a way to flip off the camera or something while someone was was watching it live.  
  
Sitting up sans focused more. He was the leader of the royal guard, it's not like getting out here wasn't something he didn't know how to do. But-... he shook his head trying not to discourage himself. But-... the gas. Kicking the wall hard he started to throw a tantrum. If he had his magic then this would be child's play! Hell it was even sapping away his normal strength!   
  
_Everything faded, he faded._  
  
Staring at the door for a moment Sans put another thing on the to-do list. Figure out when he had the most magic available. Since he was sure they would come back to gas him again he needed to pay attention to how long between each one happened. It burned him inside to think of how easily he was control by that one thing.  
  
Forcing himself to calm down he looked about the room. The only thing in reach was the woman's gross blanket. Not wanting to sit doing nothing he spend a few moments stretching out his leg the best he could to reach it. Grabbing it between his toes and pulling it closer. It looked like it had never been washed and was tatter all of the place, as if someone had been trying to rip pieces of it off once before.  
  
Adding to the grossest of the blanket was the smell but it surprisingly didn't reek of B.O. like he had expected. But just her faint smell, and her blood. His foot would quickly find the blood stain from her using the blanket as a bandage. It was already dried, flaking off and make him regret sticking his foot in it. Searching more around it his foot came to little knots in the fabric from when she was boredly trying to repair the thing.  
  
Grabbing one knot between his toes pulling and the thread snapped, the material was just so thin and weak this thing was just literally garbage. Glancing around the room again he was remind that it was the only free object in the room. And he had seen how it had comforted her, knowing full well she would want it when she got back.  
  
Out of pity for her he stopped trying to pick at the ends with his feet. Being this was reasonably her only object she 'owned' in this place. She didn't even have clothes from what he knew. Though they had this room set up for her made him wonder just how long had she been here-  
  
 _A shadow reached out from the fog and held his face gently. "Please don't die." He felt it say without hearing anything at the same time. The shadows eyes trying to stuck him into the void as they leaned closer-_  
  
Sans stopped his own thought as the image of her eyes popped in his mind, the nothingness in that dead stare. It was chilling to mentally picture and Sans froze completely still as he thought about the look coming from himself. If he was here THAT long would he-?   
  
_He existed unable to move or fight back, tied down in place, he felt like a broken doll._  
  
Growling loudly he grabbed the chains that held him and pulled as hard as he could, trying to just rip them out of the ground. He would rather try running form here with both hands tied behind his back and the muzzle on than get to that state. But Sans would just tire himself out again struggling.  
  
 _The broken pieces felt like they were being stuck in by a void._  
  
Tensing up his whole body and screamed as loud as he could. The hallucinations were driving him insane but he couldn't do anything to stop them and he was too tired to stay focused. Relaxing a bit he still had a new drive to get out of here. Questioning himself why he was so accepting of it at first. He barely struggled, was it the effect of the gas making him so mellow? Maybe but it also could have been how unexpected it all was, perhaps some part of him wanted to see how this group planned to use him. Now it seemed poorly planned out altogether.  
  
At least because of their poor planning he got to be around someone, even if weren't here right now. How would he reacted this whole time if he was completely alone? Maybe bored enough to find a different way out rather than watching a dying whore of a human.   
  
He caught himself using that insult towards her. And tried to reason with himself it was because that all she had been called up to his point. Maybe that's why she looked so depressed when he asked her name. Maybe that was all she had been called for a long time. He hated how little he asked her before he got this muzzle put on his face. But really how much more information would he have gotten anyway? He doubt that she would know anything they plan to do to him.  
  
 _He felt pictures being taken of his limp body, but couldn't move._  
  
Thinking back to the pictures they were taking of him and why they would be using those he realized their wasn't much they -could- do with them. Himself and the rest of the royal guard had already talked about what happens when we get captured. But since he was the captain he could see them playing along a little bit.   
  
Which is why it became more important to find his own escape, he couldn't expect one because depending on their demands they would never agreed to them just out of principle. Caving into their demands even once and they will start kidnapping other monsters. Sans was fuzzy IF they had done so before or not for some reason. He was pretty sure no one had gone missing from monster territory before all this started.  
  
Sighing he realized just how much of a laughing stock he was right now if those pictures got out public... if they weren't already. That too could also what they want progressively worst looking pictures for. That thought just made him wish even more than he hadn't broken face, finding himself almost blaming the woman for that. If she wasn't just so helpless he wouldn't have been so riled up... It must have been the royal guard part of him that wanted to stop someone weak from being tormented...  
  
Sans let out a loud broken laugh though his metal muzzle. What a thought THAT was, the royal guard guarding something other than the Queen and her twisted ideology. Sure now that they were on the surface things had gotten better but that was a hell of a lie to try and tell himself.   
  
He had done so many horrible things in his life he wasn't surprised the universe would punish him in this kind of way, he didn't doubt deserving it. Maybe that is what it was, she didn't... right? Well really he had no idea, maybe she had done something so bad to her own kind that she was now being forced to live as a fuck toy to these bastards. Maybe she was pro monster, that would explain her kindness towards him? Or maybe they were just bastards and kidnapped the easiest target, since they kidnapped him easy enough.  
  
 _The powdery wind was forced down his throat._  
  
Thinking about it now the male with the clipboard did seem interested in her for a second. Though the brute punching him in the head took over that whole interaction. Another option was she was ransomed as well, but they never paid up so now she is just here... to be used.  
  
Sighing he... wouldn't quite call the Queen heartless but he almost expects her to not put anything out to regain her captain back. Sans hung his head a bit knowing a good chance he was abandoned and the people here just had not realized it yet.  
  
Sans closed his eyes and played with the fabric of the blanket with his big toe. He just had to wait he figured. Rubbing his hands over the chain links he knew that he had no where enough power to break them after being gassed like that. His mind drifted off thinking of how it would be like running through those halls and kicking a door open to freedom.  
  
 _He felt himself running towards a goal with his brother in tow._


	5. Piece of Metal

_White fog covered everything, my legs burned running as fast as I could. I almost didn't noticed a dark shadow trying to flank me, it's hand shot out for me at the speed of a bullet attack. Pushing my feet back I threw myself a different direction and just barely dodged. Failing to grab me the shadow faded back into the white fog. Ignoring it I knew that I was losing time and just started running again but couldn't see anything to tell where I was going._  
  
 _Suddenly a large black hand was inches from my face and I fell backwards to the floor and tried sliding under it. Passing through the shadow my body was sudden wracked with pain and the smell of human. Clawing at the ground I forced myself up almost falling again trying to go full speed from the floor._  
  
 _Frantic my soul pounded in my rib cage that echoed through my body. Before I got far enough the white fog was starting to darken as two more hands reached out. I skidded to a stop trying to back away from them, a third hand grabbed my arm from behind and a heavy weight was forced on me and pushed me face first to the ground._  
  
 _Suddenly two more, four more, ten more- then my whole body felt weighted and held both. I couldn't see anything but black and gagged on the smell of human. I couldn't breath I-_  
  
Gasping awake it never felt like Sans slept but his attention was brought back from whatever dream or hallucination he was having at the sight of a slimmer man in the room. The man seemed to noticed Sans at the same time and gasp, taking a step back and almost dropping the limp woman he was carrying bridal style. Seeming to be finally returning her but looked almost scared to put her down now. "Why they hell is there a corpse in here??" Sans moved a bit which made the man jump again before he carefully leaned a bit closer to look. "Oh your a fucking monster... oh god!" He somewhat threw the woman he was holding down, it looked like he was aiming for the bed but she hit the side of it and slide down to the floor letting out a strained and painful moan.  
  
"Fuck no wonder no one wanted to bring her back fucking hell they have been keeping her in the same room as a monster and I've been holding her!" He looked like someone threw dog shit on him and he was backing out like he was going to run for a shower. Annoyed Sans growled at the man and he locked eyes with the skeleton before darting out and locking the door.  
  
Sighing he was annoyed that he didn't even hear him come in, or how the man was utter repulsed by him or-  
  
 _He felt them laughing._  
  
Looking to his side he watched the woman slowly move into a ball to hold herself. The smell of human and sex hit him quickly. Her lower torso and arms looked like someone was handling her roughly. She slapped her face hard as she bought her hands up to cry into, and Sans looked away expecting this to come. Didn't take long for the waterworks to start but he guessed that was good that she didn't hold it in.  
  
 _The crying never stopped._  
  
But it took longer this time for her to calm down, just continuing to lay there with her face covered being quiet which was annoying. He didn't want to hear her cry anymore but he also really didn't want everything to be silent, he had enough of that already. "Hmmmh..." He called out gently to her, she started to itch her head at first but finally sit up. Keeping her fist closed and up against her chest like a scared child she moved over to him.  
  
Sans noticed quickly that her wounded hand had been bandaged properly and now that she was facing him, he could see how swollen her face was. It even made him flinch at the sight of it, like someone just wailed on her for a while. Noticing her blanket on the way she picked it up as she sat down in front of him. Placing the blanket between him and her she leaned down into his chest. Sans froze up a bit at the contact, she had always been so scare before and now she just-  
  
Her hands moved under the cover of the blanket past his spine and placed something in his hand. It was thin and bent, it felt like a scrap of metal. He just looked down in shock at her as she started to cry again softly. Moving her hands back to her face she used the blanket to cry into. He glanced up at the camera and then back at her.   
  
It looked like she was coming to him for comfort... but she was almost fully blocking the sight of the camera with herself and the blanket. Sans smiled under his muzzle at how good of an act she could put on and started trying to pick the lock. It was just so thin he had to be careful with it. It was a bit distracting as she nuzzled into him and wept, the shaking even more so.   
  
Leaning his chin down he could feel her hair and the knots in it, that must of been how she snuck the metal past everyone. Who the hell wanted to go thru this matted mess? Sighing he couldn't help but noticed her smell of her again and it wasn't pleasant. But he could ignore it as he worked.  
  
As she started to calm down again he could feel her breath going through his rib cage and sending chills down his body. But he just started blocking her out mentally and worked harder on the lock. He could start to hear the pins moving back and forth, sliding past the unlock position. When he was sure he had it he excitedly turned the metal and heard a loud snap. He gasped for air with excitement as he dropped the metal he was holding and started twisting and pulling the lock.  
  
 _Forcing myself up I ran as fast as I could..._  
  
...but it wouldn't budge, WHY wouldn't it come off?! The woman leaned off of him as he started to thrash about, he just ... couldn't... no! It had to have unlocked what the hell?? He tried to calm himself and carefully feel over the lock. A small little bit of metal was sticking out of the keyhole and he could feel his soul drop.  
  
He didn't unlock he fucking broke the pick! With the tips of his claws he grabbed the piece that was sticking out trying to turn that. But it wouldn't move, wiggling it back and forth he tried to inch but just heard a noise that made him freeze. He moved it back too far and the pins dropped back into place. He just... he lost it and now a piece of metal was stuck in the lock.  
  
 _...white fog clouded everything as a shadow hovered over me and I-_  
  
He could feel his chest rising up and down as he started to panic. If they even got the key he couldn't use it because the metal was blocking the lock now! Why?? Why did it have to be just a weak piece of metal?? Sans glared down at the woman and she curled into herself a confused.  
  
 _-lashed out as hard as I could._  
  
Out of rage he kicked her hard, she fell backwards then scrambled away from him with her blanket. Staring at him a few feet out of his kicking range. he glared at her for a moment before lowering his head as he focused, twisting his hand uncomfortably he was trying to use his two claws to pick out the metal. He needed that out if they ever were able to get the key! Or hell even a REAL piece of metal to pick it with.  
  
He glared back up at her as she sat trying to figure out what was going on with him. Sans just couldn't help himself from thinking about maybe she got him the crappiest piece of metal so this would happen. She seemed pretty upset when giving him a way to escape, maybe she wanted him to stay here with her. Like hell he would!   
  
Needing to get the rage out Sans started thrashing about with his legs and growling out insults the best he could. Defeated the woman quickly crawled to the other side of the room and behind the bed were he couldn't see her. Then it started again, he groaned loudly as she started crying.  
  
Doing his best to ignore her again he worked on the metal blocking his padlock. Getting so close to removing it for it only to get caught again on one of the pins would just cause him to slam his foot into the ground or wall.   
  
As he exhausted himself he was getting more gentle with the metal and was finally able to slip it out of the lock. He barely noticed the sound of it hitting the floor over the noise of her crying. And he started to weight on him what he might have just done.  
  
 _The crying never stopped._  
  
He slumped like a doll in his position and stared dully at the area were she was. Reflecting on how he didn't know what she went through to get that piece of scrap metal, did she just find it or was that the reason most of her face was swollen? Had she lost that spark he saw when he was trying to convince her to help get that lock off? Maybe earlier wasn't an act to block the camera and she desperately wanted some form on comfort. Though his face twisted at the thought of her trying to ruin his chance at escaping.   
  
Her reaction didn't make sense for that though... and he didn't want to think that anyway. He wanted her to be on his side, that she wanted to help him escape. He almost laughed at himself, why would she want to help him if all he did was kick her away when she just wanted someone to lend on? What could he really offer her?   
  
He sighed and closed his eyes, right now he had nothing-   
But he did outside-  
  
 _Papyrus would look down at her confused, but wordless. He wouldn't question me._  
  
Looking back up he realized that he if could... he should, try to bring her along. If she was going to help him then then it wouldn't be right to leave her to deal with the aftermath of him escaping but- wouldn't doing that greatly hurt his chances of escaping himself? It wasn't like she was strong or fit in any way. She seemed exhausted to just get on the bed. Dead weight really-  
  
Which is what the Queen might think of him right now- he pushed his head against the wall angrily. Everything was just messed up and he had to piece it back together. But if... it really came down to it. Seeing his brother, maybe even saving his brother, getting out of here. He wouldn't risk that for her.   
  
A unpleasant curdle stewed in his soul over that thought but he needed to use her and knew he wasn't above the idea of doing nothing in return.   
  
But for now... he had to get her to help him again. And that wasn't going to happen if she was afraid and crying on the other side of the room.


	6. Blinding Gas

The woman only seemed to calm down after Sans stopped thrashing around like an animal. But to his annoyance she didn't come back over to him, just pulling herself onto the bed with her dumb blanket and fell asleep. Figuring she must be exhausted form all that crying and well... what happened while she was gone. But it still annoyed him because he would have to wait even longer to try and gain back her trust. Though he hoped she realized he was just upset and it would be fine-  
  
He doubted that is would BE that easy... maybe. All he had right now was a bit of hope and the sound of her breathing. He would hate to admit that the noise of her existing was relaxing, it was awfully in the silence without her little breaths.  
  
 _He could feel her breath entering his rib cage as she leaned on him._  
  
Sans almost started to relax enough to feel comfortable before he heard the noise that was burning into his mind. The footfalls of someone coming towards them. Glaring up he watched the door open slowly and the man with the clipboard surveyed the area carefully. Glancing at Sans for a brief moment then at the sleeping woman. Dragging the gas tank in the door he quietly closed the door behind him while keeping his stare on her.   
  
Sans loudly started kicking and talking muffled through his muzzle. The male glared at him and stomped over to the now waking woman. Quickly he pulled out an old fashion taser and poke her foot with her. She let out a breathless yelp and jumped back to the other side of the bed than him. Shaking like a leaf and clutching her blanket against her.   
  
The male kept a stern glare on her as he spoke. "Stay there, if you move I'll hold this against you til you pass out." She did not move and the man just walked back over to the gas tank, quickly bringing it over to Sans. He sighed as he stared at the dumb thing, which the male seemed to get some assessment out of.  
  
"Ive been told you have been more active lately, might need to keep this on you longer this time. Or are you just starting to turn more and more into a wild animal the longer your chained down?" Sans glared at him as he spoke, temped to growl back but that would just prove the bastards point.  
  
Staying still until right before the mask was pushed up against his jaw, Sans was able to kick the tank roughly and make it bounce on the ground. Gas started pouring out of the top as it had hit just right to knock off the value. The man dropped everything and pulled his shirt over his mouth, swiftly kicking Sans right in the ribs before dashing out of the room.   
  
He didn't hear the door lock but saw the shirt of the male poking out from under the door. The fucker was locking the gas inside and it was... strong. He felt himself becoming drained and dizzy. A loud thud caught his attention and looked over to see the woman had fallen off the bed trying to move away from the gas. Shaking she stood up but was letting out a dry cough into her blanket. Her form started to become hazed shadow as the room filled with white gas, Sans passed out before the other did.  
  
 _He could feel shadows moving throughout the room, some came to get a better look at him. Some kept there distance. But they never got too close, why would they? He couldn't move or run, he was just something to be stared at._   
  
_Looking down at himself his bones were dark and shadowy, somehow this made him think of Death. He heard it close to him, just a little more and he would fully become just a shadow._  
  
 _Glancing back up he thought he could see the hazed form of his brother as it darted back and forth looking for him. Sans would pull against whatever held him down and called out but couldn't make any noise. It was as if two hands were tightly covering his mouth from behind._  
  
 _He wanted to cry as he watched his brother run the wrong away. His form would disappear into the white fog._  
  
Sans uncomfortably cough into his muzzle as he woke up, the room was still hazed from the gas but most of it had settled into a white power on the floor. His mind was clouded and it took real effort to piece a proper thought together. He noticed that the woman wasn't in his sight, but remembered she moving away from him and the gas before passing out. Most likely out of his sight and behind the bed, a chill went through him at the thought of her being gassed to death. She was NOT in the kind of health to handle being in a gassed room.  
  
 _He couldn't hear but felt a hacking cough._  
  
"Mfffp! MmmFFP!!" he called out to her and didn't get a reply. Which caused him to panic more, but as he held his breath and waited he could make out a faint horsed breath from her. Sighing in relive that she wasn't dead only cause him to cough on some of the white power that settled in his mask.  
  
 _It covered everything and he couldn't even get a single breath without drowning on the fog._  
  
Looking down Sans noticed the tank was still near him and the males clipboard. Quickly dropping a heel on it Sans dragged it closer to him starting to flipping through it, having to use his foot to dust off some parts to read. It talked about how the gas affected him in the mission before he got caught and what it's concentration was, then again for transport, and finally for the first time he remembers being gassed. Looking at this it was his fourth time.  Flipping a bit more he could see some smaller versions of the pictures they took. Mostly from before he woke up here.   
  
_He remember the pain he was having each time each a picture was taken._  
  
Then when he got to the more current ones Sans felt sick. He looked pale and beaten hard, blood just adding to the fact of how awful it was. His expression is what would be so telling, no wonder they used that one. In the very back was a list of contacts, and how useful they were.  
  
No they were the contacts of monsters! It listed as the first letter of each but no way it wasn't them. Q- currently not budging but willing to talk, P- cooperative but lacks useful inflammation. The list continued but Sans couldn't focus on the rest. Papyrus was cooperating with them!   
  
One, it meant he wasn't captured if they were contacting him about Sans.   
Two, it meant that they were using all this info against his brother.   
Three, he was at risk of being tricked, he shouldn't be giving them any leeway!   
  
Did he really expect his brother to not try and find him? Yes, but did he also know how much his brother disobeyed him and try anyway? That was a question not worth answering, of course. Sans sighed and relaxed a bit as he flipped through the rest, flinching at the names on the contact list. All of them seeing how he was, degrading...  
  
 _The shadows laughed at him struggling for his life._  
  
Using his feet the best he could Sans started tearing up the papers on the clipboard. Knowing they most likely had a copy somewhere else it just made him feel better. Just as Sans was running out of paper to tear up the cloth under the door is removed and it starts to unlock. Two guys come in with masks and start vacuuming the white power off the floor. The clipboard man stomped in heading straight for Sans.  
  
Quickly picking up his clipboard with the destroyed notes and started beating Sans with it. Sans wiggled a bit and tired moving in a way that made it hurt less to no avail. He would even trying kicking back but they didn't have any power behind them after getting gassed this time.  
  
"Hey the bitch is over here." One started thru the mask. The second started to move her to the bed so they could work on the floor that she passed out on. The clipboard man stopped beating Sans for a moment to look over with a glare. "Just leave her there not like she is going to die from that." Then continued but switched to kicking Sans in the biggest targets like his head, chest and pelvis.  
  
 _He couldn't move and everything hurt, he couldn't breath. He was just going to die and his dust scattered out into his white fog._  
  
Sans whined a little in pain but tried his best to stay quiet. And the other two men finished quickly, the clipboard man lifting up to spit on Sans and snap a picture before stomping out. The rest meekly followed, locking the door behind them. Looking up Sans noticed the empty tank was gone as well. His head hurt too much to remember which one took it out.  
  
 _He was left beaten and bruised, but alive. So he had no complains, not that the dead would complain either. Looking up the shadows were all gone and it was only him. And while he preferred this he couldn't help but wonder who else made it out alive? Who was he worrying about? While he took concern if his guardsmen died it would have been just a part of the job. The Mutt wouldn't be killed, he would turn tail way before that happened. Unless his own life was on the line right? Papyrus would get himself killed for him and he knew that._  
  
 _So where was he? Looking up there was no one, but no one was dead.Then he started to notice a collection of white, it wasn't hazy like the rest of the fog. It was a light gray? No it was a shadow being smothered by white dust-_  
  
He felt awful enough to pass out but sitting there sleep never came to him. Soon enough his attention was brought up to the woman on the bed, she rolled over and groaned in pain before letting out a horse cough. It almost sounded like a dry heave and she curled up until she got control of her breathing. Once she did she sat up and stared at him with a disapproving look, her eyes looking even more hollow than he had ever seen them before. He looked away in shame but could still feel them.   
  
_The smothered shadow turned to look at him, it's eyes darker than anything else he had seen before, it's like they were just holes cut straight thru reality-_  
  
He just couldn't fathom just how much he hated her eyes, peeking back she was still staring at him. What?! Did she expect him not to fight back at all? He was going to use every chance get got to fight and-  
  
 _That stare felt like it was pulling him into it's very own hopelessness._  
  
He curled up a bit and looked away from her again. He was suppose to be trying to get her helping him again and so far he had glare, growled, kicked, and got her gassed. Man if only he could pat himself on his back for this. He felt like crying but just whined faintly.  
  
 _It looked away and he could felt like he could breath again._   
  
She sighed and stopped staring at him, letting herself fall back onto the bed and relaxing. He wished he could do the same, even if it was only for a moment. After a few heavy breath from the woman she sat back up and saw Sans still curled up, taking a moment of pity on him.  
  
Sans finally looked back over to her as she stepped off the bed and took a few steps toward him. Just as he thought about getting excited she stopped and sat down halfway from him and bed. No where close enough for either of them to reach each other. Sans looked down at his feet in shame, he expected her to keep her distance. He could feel her study him, taking in each little detail. He was sure marks were on him from getting beat a few minutes ago, his body throbbed with pain as  if it was still happening.  
  
 _It's all consuming hopeless stare returned but closer, and getting even closer. He didn't look up in fear of it fully decided to come after him. Would it turn him into despair or finally give him a release? Would he fully fade into a shadow himself? He didn't want to look back up to find out._  
  
Something urged her and she scooted a little closer, staring at him with frustration and a bit of anger. Sans could feel it without looking up at her eyes, not that he wanted to look at those. He hated how it felt like a weight on him with her stare, he let out a small pained moan.   
  
Inching a bit closer she was in the area that he could kick, not that he wanted too but was just surprised that she was this close so soon. He tried looking back up at her but that judging stare as just so painful with those hallowed eyes. But forced himself to try again, meekly he stared up into the awful eyes of the one person that might help him out of this. Just searching for something that would let him know if he fucked up too badly.   
  
_Those eyes were so close now, but were they the same? He thought he was seeing something different now-_  
  
What he got back was something... it took a moment to understand but it was a serious look. And it was an understanding and sympathy. Her face showed that she was still mad about what happened but he felt she understood while not seeing anything coming from those eyes. But knowing how she felt it was easier to look her in the face.   
  
_The smother shadow stare with understanding and he could feel something. It felt like a soul trapped in magic, he had trapped plenty of souls with Blue Magic before. But this one seemed trapped in it's own despair, it didn't even fight the white fog that ate away at it's shadowy form._  
  
Feeling a little better he moved his foot to touch her foot, just something to psychically to connect them. But as he started to move she flinched, about ready to back away, so he just tucked his legs closer to himself and sighed. Looking away he didn't expect anything else to happen. But he surprised him by inching just a bit closer, which she backs away when he tried getting close but now she moves in on him?  
  
 _I know who this is, this shadow. I'm hallucinating her into this thing-_  
 _It curled into itself as he could see it weep but not hear it. It was a soft and gentle cry, it no longer having the will power to scream out what it was feeling._   
  
Sans watched as she curled up herself with her blanket and start crying lightly, he couldn't read her expression anymore as she buried her face in that blanket but having her cry this close almost made him want too cry as well. But he also wanted to laugh on how messed up everything was.   
  
_It never stopped crying-_  
  
All he could do was just be near her as she cried herself into a nap.


	7. Passcode

Sans had drifted into some sort of half-sleep while the woman napped near him. The two snapped there head up as the door opened, neither hearing anyone coming up. But food was just dropped off and the door slammed shut. Even if it was slop it smelled nice, which made him wonder how long it had been since he ate last? How long had he been here? He felt awful but so many thing factored into that he couldn't tell if any of it was from hunger.   
  
_He remembered how it felt right before starting to cook one of his great meals. The sight of his spotless kitchen, the perfectly organized shelves, or the premium ingredients stored for his use._  
  
He watched her slowly move over the food, wondering if this was just her second meal? Only meal of the day? Was she being fed when she was taken out of here? As she got to her food she felt the stare at her back and turned to look at Sans. Yes, he was hungry and he may have not even in days but- could he really take from her? With just how thin she was and now he was hoping she would help him escape, no he need her help and needed her to have some stamina.   
  
_He almost could see papyrus in front of him, offering him some hot and ready food from Muffet's, he turned his head refusing to eat anything from there-_  
  
He turned his head to the side refusing her offer, he debated how the hell he would even eat with the muzzle on. Moving his jaw a bit she could put crumb size piece in there but that was it. He didn't like the idea of being fed like a baby. After a quiet moment she would finally start eating and Sans jealously listened. It occurred to him that these people might not realize that skeleton monsters eat? Humans always asked him and his brother where it goes, but they also could purposely not feeding him. The latter he decided was more likely.  
  
 _Humans whispered about his body as he passed them on the street, each having there own questions. Answering with only assumptions, not that he would correct them. He wouldn't give them the time of day._  
  
The woman moved over to him after finishing her food and sat in front of him again looking down at her own feet. Sans was content just listening to her exist but she hummed a bit to get his attention. Lazily he looked up and watched as she started moving her hands back and forth.   
  
First pointing right at him,  
Then clenching her fists and freezing in place,  
Next she made a grabbing motion with her hands toward herself,  
Lastly lifting up an open faced hand and using her other hand to wiggle two downward pointing fingers over it.  
  
She would give him a questioning look as if she wanted an asnwer. He instantly knew the last thing, which was like walking or running-  
  
 _His whole body burned with the urge to run away from here._  
  
Did he still want to run? Of course he did and nodded in reply. The woman sighed so hard that her she coughed a little, bringing her hands to her face and looked stressed. Confused Sans poked her with his foot to get her attention, she didn't jump away thankfully.   
  
"Dummh Uoow?" Sans tired to sound out his words carefully and hoped she understood. He stared at her with a determined gaze. If she was asking if he wanted to leave... wouldn't she want to as well? A fear built up in him that she might want to- not have the fight left in her to want too-  
  
 _Now that she covered her eyes he felt like he could start to see her form under through the fog, under all that white dust, past her shadowed form a bit._  
  
And she nodded, bringing her hands down from her face and shaking. Sans thought she would cry but the tears never came. He waited til she calmed down because even though she nodded her reaction was confusing. Was it fear or frustration? He now knows she wants out for sure, his mind yelled at him for that being oblivious but would she try?  
  
 _It felt he could only start to see her when her eyes weren't pulling him into despair._  
  
The woman went into a deep thought and Sans watched as her eyes just barely twitched as if she was mapping out something in her mind. Snapping out of it quickly she pointed to her forehead and tapped it for a moment. Giving him a look that she was demanding of his attention.  
  
Showing her two hand and bring them close to herself but keeping them out of view of the camera. Quickly flashing different fingers up.  
  
One hand two fingers,  
Two hands eight fingers,  
One hand four fingers,  
Two hands again, nine fingers.  
  
She flashed this again a few more times before tapping her forehead again. He didn't know what this combo was for but she wanted to make sure he knew it. Thinking back to the door and more two the key man... well with his keys. With that many he carried did they really have the tech for a lock like that. But he wasn't about to question her reasoning's.  
  
Repeating the numbers in his head a few more time he was pretty sure he had it down and waited for more. She would move forward and lean extremely close to him, making Sans freeze up. They were maybe an inch or two from each other and she would reach behind him, he didn't relax until she touched the lock.   
  
_He felt a fear of having her form so close, like he would becoming a part of it's hopelessness._  
  
Leaning back he noticed how she had a piece of the broken metal in her hand. She depressingly looked over it and working out that it was too weak by snapping the piece she had again. Flicking it to the side she just slumped a bit in thought.  
  
Sans leaned to the side drifting into thought himself. She seemed willing to help and join him but... what COULD she do now? How could he help or at least guide her? She seemed lost on what to do right now. Granted he was too...  
  
He had gone over all this before yet an easy asnwer never came. Yeah he needed to get this chain off him, nothing really happens without that step. But getting there... Looking back up at her Sans figured she might try finding something else to pick the lock. Glancing around there wasn't really anything in the room- He paused and looked back to the bed with the tear in it's side. Motioning his head towards it she looked up then over to the bed.  
  
She didn't move at first and he wasn't sure if she got the hint but then brought up her bandaged hand. Well it was correctly wrapped he could see how swollen and discolored it was compared to the other. He realized her hesitation was because of that and got a little annoyed, she could use her other hand or just suck it up and deal with the pain if it meant escaping. Though he quickly realized that he needed to drop that mindset if he wanted to keep her on his side.  
  
Noticing his mood the woman sighed and crawled back over to the bed to try once more. She thankfully used her good hand but Sans just watched her struggle to pull the spring out of the bed. He also didn't know how they were threaded together in the bed so after watching her for a few minutes he realized that it was a pointless effort.  
  
Humming he called to her, at first the woman ignored him but even she quickly realized that she wasn't strong enough for this. Crawling back over to Sans with her blanket, seeming to take comfort in being around him. But didn't look him in the face more likely ashamed of her little failure. Though Sans couldn't bring himself to be mad now that the woman had at least tired.  
  
Was there really nothing they could do expect for wait for that? Pulling on his chain lightly he reminded himself that might really be the asnwer. Shivering lightly he regretted moving like that, his body still hurt from the beating he just took. Taking a depressed sigh he slumped down to a more comfortable position.  
  
A small little note caught his attention again, then another. The woman had curled her legs up to her chest and was hugging them, letting her head rest on her knees and humming. Each note wasn't connected to the next but the different pitches gave the effect of a song. Sans realized he could handle waiting a bit longer and just turned his mind off to the worry of escaping while listening to her.   
  
_He could hear something, but nothing at the same time. Like something was being said from a sound proof room. He knew there was noise but... nothing. He looked at the lightened shadow in front of him and got the feeling it wanted to scream out, but it had no voice to do so with._  
  
He wished that he could hear the song properly from her, he could himself starting to hum in the gaps. Sometimes he didn't guess the correct note and it sounded even more off that it already was but it was comforting- entertaining to DO something. Even if that something was just humming.  
  
Closing his eyes he kept trying to string the song along and the woman watched as Sans started to hum himself to sleep. She smiled at him and watched how the skeleton breathed while asleep. She would try to keep up the song after he fell asleep until her throat hurt too much to continue. 


	8. Pull or Speak

_Waking up I saw her sitting on her bed across the room, idly playing with her hair. It looked as if she was able to get all the knots out of it. Seeing it bounce for once being released over how it was before was a treat and I would hum to get her attention. Turning to look at me a figure appear behind her, a brute of a shadow would just tackle her back onto the bed with his hands around her throat. I stared in shock as she melted into dust in a matter of seconds. The shadowy figure lifting back up and clasping his hands back and forth to remove her dust before locking eyes with Sans-_  
  
Sans felt himself inhale deeply as he woke up again. Looking up the woman was watching him carefully, did he fall asleep? She was still in the same spot so it couldn't have been for long right? Though found himself relived that she wasn't dust- He should have know something was off the moment he saw that dust in his dream. Humans dont dust-  
  
Looking straight into her eyes she seemed concerned but Sans brushed it off with a small huff. Scooting closer the woman held up her hands like she was going to hold his cheeks but waited to see if it was ok. Sans didn't move so without an sort of signal she took it as if it was fine. Brushing her fingers over the muzzle and hooked onto the sides of his face at the corners of his jaw. Sighing Sans closed his eyes to the soft touch only to open them suddenly as a sharp pain came form his muzzle.  
  
_He could feel something metal being pulled around his head while it was strapped on._  
  
Flinching away from her grip i saw her removed her hands with an apologetic look, Sans frowned at her a little mad but she didn't look like she did it on purpose- Then she raised her hands once again in the same position. He let out a low moan to warn her that he didn't want her too.  
  
But she whined lightly back, and bringing her hands a few inches closer. Looking away Sans didn't want to be in any more pain than he already was, and heard an even more sad whine from her. Sighing he looked back and gave her careful look, allowing her to touch him but he was trying to convey that he wasn't happy about it.  
  
Lightly she gripped onto his muzzle, her fingertips tracing the edges until she got a grip on the tight muzzle. Then pulled-  
  
_He felt two sets of hands on his head just to get something locked around his jaw._  
  
He whined as pain shot up from already sore face, it dug into his skull and was making his head pound. But she held onto it firmly, only letting go when Sans snapped his head to the side. "STOP!" He called out and almost hit his head against the wall from how hard he was pulling back. She looked shocked and Sans could start feeling himself get mad, like was she really so surprised that he didn't want to be pulled on? It hurt like fucking hell and-  
  
He realized she was able to pull on it enough to give his jaw enough room to talk. That... is useful to know. His mind raced on how he could use that and started to space out. The woman watched him think and curled up in front of him, holding onto her blanket and playing with a few ends.  
  
Tapping his foot Sans realized that if he NEEDED to say something she could do that, maybe get out a word or two. But he had to make sure she knew when to do so. Looking up he studied her and noticed she was studied him back. But it wasn't awkward as he felt it should have been. Ignoring that feeling he clanked his jaw under his mask, it stung a little as the metal scrapped against his jaw but it was easy to do.  
  
She watched him and seemed a little confused. Sighing he would trying sounding it out. "DMoouu Ahnngenn." He muddled out a few more times before she raised her hands once again. To get the point across he nodded and cankered his jaw right before she started to pull.  
  
"Ghooud." He tried to confirm quickly-  
  
_The hands pulled testing the tightness, then adjust and pulled again, over and over-_  
  
"SSTTOOPP!" He called out as he started to feel like someone was stabbing his head. She let go of the muzzle quickly and it kinda snapped back in place. Making Sans unable to think for a moment with how much his head was pounding.  
  
_-finally locking it in place._  
  
He knew it only hurt THIS bad because that guy decided to beat his head repeatedly with a clipboard. And not wanting to do that again he just hoped she figured out how to tell when he wanted that done. Sans noticed that she seemed a bit more at easy after this but also like she wanted to say something. Or rather didn't know how to go about conveying it.  
  
It was a bit entertaining to watch her pout about this, it seemed to really annoy her but it also could be really important. Making whatever enjoyment he was getting out of her expression disappear with worry. He would lean back trying to think of how to help her signal something to him. Glancing up it would have to be one without the camera taking huge notice too.  
  
Then it occurred to him that they might be concerned with the whole mask pulling, he just had to hope that his pain of the event made who ever watches think she was just messing with him or something. Focusing on the camera and it's noises the whirling let him know that it was on auto which gave him some relief. If they decide that all that was worth punishing the two of them had some time before someone saw it. Or at least he hoped, he wasn't in the mood for another beating.  
  
But as things got quiet he could just barely hear light footsteps from outside the door, as if someone was sneaking around. Glancing down he gave the woman a warning look before looking back at the door. She froze and listened, as she realized what he was hearing her face just fell. It looked as if she paled on the spot, her eyes seemed to darken- returning to that uncomfortable voided look. She started to slump into a depressed ball for a moment and hold herself.  
  
Sans was concerned because most of the time she ran to the over side of the room in fear- But she suddenly shot up and threw her blanket onto the bed. She staggered to the door like a zombie and waited. Neither of them making any noise as the door was carefully and quietly unlocked. The person cracked the door just enough to see inside and was greeted by the woman's voided stare right in their face.  
  
They slammed the door shut again and could be heard form the other side. "Jesus fuck-! How the hell do you know when I'm coming every time?" She gave no reply and just stood motionless. Slowly the other opened the door just enough to drag her out of it. Sans expect to hear them walk again but neither moved from what he could tell-  
  
But listening closely he could hear the shuffling of clothing and a few moaned breaths. A chill went down his body as he realized what might be happening. He just stared at the door in disbelief watching it moved slightly as if someone was pushing against it, repeatedly.  
  
_Something dark started to leak from under the door, trying to burst into the room he was trapped in-_  
  
Some bastard was really fucking her against the door?! He curled up and tired to not pay attention, it didn't work and he started to hear each little wet noise more and more. What made him want to hurl the most was her little aired breaths, it was like a moan but without the air to make the noise.  
  
But her noises would be drown out by the bastard's sounds as he took every second of enjoyment as fast as he could. It was- kinda embarrassing how fast it was, Sans was glad it didn't last long but he was startled on how quickly she was shoved back in the room and the door locked. She stumbled a bit shaking and just forced her shaking body to walk over to the bed. She had thrown her blanket on it and it was waiting for her as she fell into it.  
  
_Her form was covered in the shadowy fog and he could hear himself laugh loudly in his mind. Was that what the shadows were? Was he really visually hallucinating smells?_  
  
Sans could see her curl up with the blanket and shake. She surprisingly didn't cry from what he could tell but her face was covered.  
  
Sans felt... hollow. _He felt the same as he feeling he got from her eyes._  
  
She was just raped on the other side of the door of a room he was in and- he couldn't do anything. He couldn't do anything right now either, he had learned that she doesn't response until she calms down. That was a soul crushing thought.  
  
But she never moved from the spot, having fallen asleep on the bed like that.


	9. Sinking

It felt like forever but Sans noticed the camera breaking it's normal auto rhythm, then settling on a spot that he guess the two of them would be in view. Looking over the woman was still asleep on the bed, which he had no intention of waking her up and stayed quiet.  
  
It confused him, he had been awake for hours thinking and couldn't grasp why did they just keep her around? Was it REALLY just to fuck her? Wasn't an anti-group suppose to be pro-human? How was it in their moral code to just parade around a little fuck pet? The best he could come up with was maybe she was pro-monster or had gotten in their way somehow.  
  
After a while Sans just let his mind still and listen to her breathe, it was about the only form of relaxing he could get. But it was sad when he could hear the raspsyness of her throat, while he assumed it came from her throat because if it was from her lungs his theory of her having a bad infection would be true.  
  
_He could see hands around her neck right before she turned to dust-_  
He had already dreamed of her dying before and he would rather not see it in real life.  
  
It had felt like forever before someone started to come down the hallway, as they got closer he could pick up on two people coming. Glancing over the woman was still asleep and if they weren't for her then maybe she could stay asleep.  
  
As the stopped to unlock the door he could hear the metal of a gas tank being set down. Sighing heavily he knew what was coming and wasn't surprised to see clipboard guy with a guard behind him.  
  
Glaring at Sans the clipboard man signaled to the guard before walking over to the skeleton. "You look like your starting to heal slower and slower." He would reach down and grab the top of Sans' head, moving it side to side. Sans only assumed he was looking over any marks from the beating he got last time.  
  
Sans didn't fight the grip and just sat there feeling dull, mostly wanting the guy to just hurry up and get it over with. A part of him got annoyed as he snapped another picture but didn't fight it as the gas mask was pushed against his muzzle. Closing his eyes he tired not to focus on how much it felt like he was dying. The magic in him just seemed to go dormant and his bones felt brittle.  
  
_A rush of white fog blew straight into his face filling the room and his vision. Everything turn either white or black, but he knew what those shadows were now. He was just hallucinating and was just his mind twisting what he was seeing._  
  
Sans could felt the man flinch for a moment before calling out, Sans barely opened an eye to see what was happening. "Knock her back out of something, I don't have time to deal with the bitch right now." Sans was a little taken by surprise at the woman being mentioned while the rest of what the man said after didn't settled in his fogged mind.  
  
Trying to snap his attention up he could see the guard holding the woman down on the bed and-  
_He could feel someone choking for air with nearly silent, desperate gasps._  
  
it was too blurry. Sound was like static and he was feeling like he was drowning.  
_He couldn't breath, he was drowning in this fog._  
  
_He felt trapped but floating, like he was underwater._  
_He felt like he was dying, chipping away as his dust floated to the surface._  
_He didn't struggle, did he not have the will too? Was he just that weak?_  
_He felt numb, he felt hollow, he felt like he was nothing but a shadow._  
_He wondered, was this what it was like to fall into those eyes of hopelessness?_  
  
Sans couldn't tell what was happening anymore expect the gas mask was removed from his face. He could feel pressure against him as if someone was hitting him but nothing focused and he was just trapped in a disillusioned state.  
  
_Was everything white or black? Was he covered in shadow or choked with white? It felt like... nothing._  
  
It only felt like a few moments but once his vision started to come back the two men were gone and he couldn't quite see where the woman was, had they take her with them or-?  
  
_Something was touching him, he couldn't move to look but he felt them. He finally was feeling something again._  
  
He could hear someone straining to breathe, it was next to him too. Turning his head weakly it was difficult to even hold it up but was able to catch a glimpse of the woman before his head weakly flopped back down. He felt like he was trapped in a rag dolls body and couldn't move much.  
  
_He felt filled to the brim and completely hollowed out at the same time, he couldn't move to fight either sensation._  
  
Glancing around at what he could see  was the lower half of her, she was sitting next to him against the wall and moving her arms up and down from his angle.  Taking another look he noticed how she was rubbing her neck and making an awful wheezing.  
  
She was covering her own neck with her hands as she rubbed the sore spot but it didn't take Sans long to work out that she might have been chocked out. He wanted to get mad about it but he could barely lift his head to look at her.  
  
_He could pull himself together the moment her eyes caught him. He felt like he was being dragged into hopelessness, but had he just been dragged out? Everything felt backwards._  
She seemed to notice his struggle and moved closer.  
  
A weight pressed gently against his chest and his head was pushed up from under the chin, sighing in relief that his neck wasn't aching anymore form struggling to hold up his head. He could tell it was her touching him but his eyes just felt so heavy and his vision to blurry to see what she was doing. He could tell three things, her weight, her warmth, her smell.  
  
_No matter how much he felt like she was trying to pull him in, curse him to hopelessness. He never fell fully, he was leaning straight onto her shadow, her form. But rather than the falling his soul told him should avoid, her form was holding him up._  
  
Sans woke up much later feeling only slightly better. His vision returned and his mind seemed clear but his body felt weak and sore. Rubbing his chin more into his soft headrest he noticed that it was the woman. Looking down she had crawled into his lap and was resting against his chest, her head tucked in the crook on his neck, and the blanket covering two of them slightly.  
  
How she was comfortable against his boney body he didn't understand but she had somehow fallen asleep like this. Her weight pushing against him pushed him further into the chains on his arms so he figured if he slept through that pain then he shouldn't be questioning her.  
  
Also he realized that despite being in more pain because of her position that he didn't want to adjust. She was warm and soft, and the blanket help keep some of that heat in. This whole time the both of them had been naked and just having the blanket cover them given slightly just felt relieving. It was a strange feeling to miss clothes so badly?  
  
Moving his head slightly Sans practically buried his nose in her hair. Despite what... happened last night. It was mostly her own smell on her, and a faintness of the white dust form the gas. It make him wonder how such a strong B.O. was on her a while back. Either one person was really rank or... he guessed right and she had been taken out for the pleasure of a lot of people at once, or back to back.  
  
He cursed himself in his mind for focusing on that, it was one of the last things he wanted to think about. He focused on something more pleasant, like how her breath was on the base of his neck and going into his rib cage slightly. It filled the inside of his rib cage a comfortable warmth and he figured that was why he was able to relax more despite being in an uncomfortable position with her against him.  
  
Focusing more on how her breathe felt against him he noticed how between each breathe his bones got faintly cold before getting another small burst of warmth. The repeated action made his bones shiver slightly.  
  
This seemed to wake her up and leaned away slightly so she could look him in the face. Her sleepy face greeted him as she hummed just once. But as she started to wake up more she place a hand on the center of his rib cage and pushed off the rest of the way, he could only guess she was either embarrassed or guilty for using him like a pillow. Her hand only stayed a moment before she completely removed herself from him.  
  
She did look a little guilty but Sans just gave her a soft hum and she relaxed. Though Sans didn't enjoy lost of warmth with her gone he took the chance to adjust himself to be slightly more comfortable.  
  
Her hand would reach back up and touch his thigh bone, her fingers gently brushing over a scar he had in his bone, then feather touching another. She started explore the various scars he had while Sans sat still. Instead he focused on her, her neck had some new bruise around it. He figured she really had been chocked out while he was gassed, did they do that for a fucking reason? He HIGHLY doubt she put up a fight-  
  
But he was talking about a human that just slept up against him and was now petting the various scars he had. She also was risking herself as the two of them thinking about escaping. The logical part of his brain was happy, she cared about his well being and that would suit him well for increasing his chances of getting out of here.  
  
Though another part of him was irked at the pity, his damn ego was something that no amount of beatings could reduce. But he had been here way to long to listen to his ego now. So maybe she was chocked for trying to stop the gassing? He thought he would feel grateful for her concern but...  
  
It made him scared.


	10. Hunger

While Sans didn't fall asleep he had spaced out so much that he was startled when the woman moved away from him suddenly. Glaring at the door he listened carefully and heard the footsteps closer than expected.  Looking over to the woman she was breathing heavily but had a... determined look on her face. Shaking slightly she looked back at him and nodded.  
  
The door would open suddenly and a brute of a man stomp straight for her and grabbed her arm. She might have tried pulling back but any effort was wasted on how strong the brute pulled. She almost fell over but was able to stumble her feet just enough to keep up.  
  
And just like that, Sans was alone again. He stared shocked at the door for a while. A sinking feeling in his soul as he thought about that look.   
  
She was... going to TRY something.   
_He could recall the sight of her blood pouring from the gash in her hand, he could see it coming from every little cut and scar on her body-_  
  
And he got the feeling it would fail, she was going to get hurt or everyone would realize something was up and make it so they had no chance of getting out. The tension in his body rose and his bones started hurting from how much he wanted to MOVE to do SOMETHING.  
  
He didn't quite realize he was pulling against his chains until a sharp pain shot up his arms from rubbing the metal against his weakened bones. Shaking he stopped struggling and relaxed, or at least tried too. His mind raced with ideas, was the look because she was going to try and find something to use as a lock pick again?   
  
Or rather was she going to try and steal a key? If she did that how would she know which one? Or what would happen if she was caught STEALING a key??  When she had brought that pick it looked like someone had just repeatedly punched her in the face. But because she had in fact still gotten away with bringing something back he assumed that was because of some other reason.  
  
What if she was caught then and was hit for it but she still got away with it?? How would that even work? Maybe she was somewhere were she wasn't suppose to be and got punched and they didn't realize she had stolen something? He questioned himself on why he had not thought more on this before.   
  
Maybe he did and was either too drugged out or too distracted by this thoughts of getting out. He couldn't quite recall at the moment.  
  
Looking down he noticed that she had left her blanket within his reach, grasping it with his toes Sans struggled with putting it over himself. Settling on having it on his lap, missing the comfort he temporarily had earlier from being covered.  
  
As he focused more on the blanket he started to get a better understanding of why she took so much care of it. Even if it was dirty, smelly, ripped, thin- plus he couldn't tell what color is was originally. But it had a softness to it that only a well loved piece of fabric could have.  
  
 _Alone he would press his scarf to his face, it settled his nerves. But refused to let anyone know how much he cared for the rag, it would be seen as a weakness and ripped from him._  
  
Now that he thought about it he was wearing his favorite scarf when he got captured, they most likely incinerated it by now. Or maybe they would spread his dust on it and send it back to his brother to torture him with it. Though if it came to that Sans would like to be sent back to his brother. Even if it would be selfish to make him deal with the dust.  
  
 _At least as dust he couldn't see how his brothers face twisted knowing he was dead._  
  
Banging his head against the wall behind him he wanted to remove such depressing thought from his mind and pain worked like a charm. But as time past he thought he was seeing people in the room, blinking a few times and realizing they weren't there.  
  
 _Who were these people? Maybe it was everyone, he could pretend they were coming to save him. But they would just come short of him and turn away, not seeing him. Or just walking straight past him. It made him want to scream out._  
  
Sans laughed under his mask as the silence of the room was getting to him. But it was a little entertaining what his mind could fill this damned room with.  
  
 _Trying to making out the people but all he had to go on was the silhouettes, maybe one looked like his tall brother? Another like the bulky form of Alyphs-_  
  
 _He could see someone dashing straight through the fog towards him, everyone seemed lost to where he was but this one- It was the woman with the hopeless eyes. Maybe those eyes let her see straight through all this fog._  
  
 _She would stopped in front of him as he slumped down, she couldn't help him. He wanted to laugh as the only person that could find him wasn't strong enough to help. Glancing down his bones were a shadowy blur of what his body should look like. He could feel her try to grasp his weakened form but it stay glued to the floor._  
  
 _The more she pulled the more he felt himself sinking down, but suddenly he felt his head being forced out of the shadows by two hands. She had grabbed his head and stared straight into his eyes. He felt himself being sucked into them, like a pull of death. But his bones felt like they were being lifted from tar._  
  
 _He felt a voice call out. "I don't want to watch yet another person die." But he heard nothing. Was he feeling sound now? First seeing smell and now this?_  
  
 _Looking to the side he saw an opening in the fog, he could see something he needed. He tried looking back to the woman holding his face but-_  
  
 _She was gone._  
  
He saw the door open for a moment before smelling food. But that didn't go away like the other visions. Focusing he realized that the food MIGHT be real. And well... he was very hungry. So much so that he was getting dizzy. Maybe that's why he was starting to see things again, but out of the cruelest joke one could pull the food was place no where near him, and he was chained down with a muzzle on.  
  
 _He could see something, he felt like he needed it but couldn't move towards it. It felt like the unbearable waiting for the pan to sizzle, or an oven to finish._  
  
It was RIGHT over there and he couldn't get it. Why was it even there? Was it just here to torture him more? Not like that woman was back yet so it seemed like a waste to bring it. Sighing he stared at it for a while. The smell of it, he was even trying to guess the texture. It was most likely awful but right now his mind wanted it so bad that it would taste like gold to his tongue.  
  
 _He could remember the taste of his best dish he ever made, even Alphys was impressed._  
  
Before he knew it the steam faded and the food started to firm up as it got cold. Feeling himself pulling towards it, why did it just have to SIT there?? It was maddening! Weakly he kicked the wall a few minutes and just slumped down. The hallucinations faded away for a second as he focused more on thrashing about than food but it made him want to cry.  
  
Sans sat there convinced he had completely lost it when the door opens again slowly-  
 _Something was dropped, he couldn't tell if it was him or something else. The sound of how much it hurt echoed through his body._  
  
Then her limp body was dropped in the entrance and the door closed suddenly. One of her limps clipped the plate and just a small amount of the food bounced off onto the floor. It physically hurt watching that food fall. Whining loudly he wanted to get her attention, he wanted to let her know about the food to let her know about him-  
  
Then he got a good look at her, having the normal marks around her lower torso and arms. Her face looked slapped rather than punched and she was clutching her bandaged hand crying. Her whole body shaking like a leaf and she wasn't even noticing his cries towards her. Knowing he had to wait, she needed time to calm down but he looked back to the food and it looked like it was fresh and steaming. Like it was just made and he KNEW it wasn't, how did he get like this? He was short- not as big as others and didn't need to eat as much but had he really been that long for him to be this desperate?  
  
Leaning his head back he tired to calm down, he didn't realize he was shaking and tired to stop that as well. He just-... needed to wait. He could do that.  
  
  
He couldn't- _He was going to starve to death._  
  
  
He would start whining again and loudly enough that she finally looked up at him with tears in her eyes, he felt bad but his body was starting to shake again. Looking from her to the food he tired to give the hint and it took her a moment. Once she realized a look of shock spread on across her face.  
  
Trying to get up she place her hurt hand back on the ground and just fell over herself. Shaking she clutched the hand for a moment before trying again with a different hand. It was awkward and took a lot of effort but she was able to move herself and the slightly spilled plate of food over to Sans.   
  
The look she was giving him told him that he looked AWFUL and was glad he couldn't see himself. If himself from a month ago saw him now his soul would shrivel up and dusted. But right now he just opened his mouth the best he could, it hurt to try and force it open but he was so dizzy the pain wasn't really getting to him.  
  
It took a moment but the woman finally figured out a spot where she could fit bits of food past his muzzle. He no longer cared that he was being fed like a baby and tired not to bit her fingers in desperation to get food. He was shaking with relief after just a few bites. His body hungry absorbed the food and it was like were tubes suddenly being filled. He didn't realize how hallow he felt until he started eating.   
  
But eating was painfully slow, literally. Bit by bit he was fed crumbs through the holes in his muzzle. And once it was all gone his body continued shaking, but he wasn't seeing things anymore. Slumping she set the plate to the side and went back to holding her hand. Finally with his mind able to focus he got to see how bad it looked. It looked swollen under the bandages and her wrist was turning red and purple, it looked like someone took a baseball ball to it.  
  
 _He felt the sound of her airless scream._  
  
He didn't like that he was right about her trying something and failing. Though he wondered what she tired grabbing but it didn't matter if she wasn't able to bring it with her. He sighed knowing he should feel a bit more guilty of her pain but he was just more upset that it didn't work. If today proved anything it was that he NEEDED out of here.  
  
But he wasn't sure how soon that would happen if at all.


	11. Tar

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence together. She nursed her hand by rubbing on the sore spots and Sans had given her back her blanket, which she draped over herself as she sat with him. Part of him knew she would be more comfortable on the bed but didn't want her to leave him in any way.  
  
 _He didn't want to be alone anymore._  
  
Looking down at her hand she still held it in pain, but was spaced out. Humming once he got her attention and shifted his eyes between her eyes and her hand. Questioning her about it. But she didn't quite know what he was asking. Neither did he, he wanted to know want happened, was that because she tried to steal something, was she still willing to try again if that was the case?  
  
Gritting her teeth and frown she nodded slowly, and he figured any one of those question was a yes. Giving her a determined look he tried figuring out if she was still ok with trying. And he didn't know what to make of her expression, it was tired- empty but she reached out and touched one of the scars in his rib cage before nodding again.  
  
 _Weakly he felt her reach for him, the real him, his core, his-_  
  
He vaguely wondered if she knew that she was touching were his soul was if he was showing it. But the gesture gave him confidence that she was willing to try again and smiled to her from under his muzzle. She let out a little grunt and he saw the tips of her lips move upward slightly. The expression didn't last long as her head dipped more and rested against his chest.  
  
He thought she might fall asleep before he started feeling tears fall down. Sighing he leaned back trying to give her more room. She took it and moved a little bit closer and gently held his rib cage crying. He wasn't sure if she wasn't just stress crying until she started to shake.   
  
She was scared, he was too.   
  
Sans wished he could hold her and try to tell her it was going to be ok, hell he would want to hear the same. But at least she knew that she could come for what little comfort he could give. Leaning his head down his chin touched the top of her head and swirled it lightly.  
  
He tried humming a song for her but after struggling to eat his whole face was sore. But the broken notes was something the two of them were use too.  
  
They got lost in each others little noises that neither of them heard anything til the door opened.   
  
Letting out a breathless shriek the woman was forcibly moved off Sans still crying. The clipboard man and a uniformed guard came into the room. Sans watched with horror as they brought another gas tank in. Didn't they JUST do that? He felt so close to falling down with the last one!  
  
He started to pull against his chains in a panic until the clipboard man grabbed the woman by her hair and shove her towards the guard. "I don't want her trying to get in the way again, take her to the break room or something!" The guard nodded as she struggled uselessly against him. "Damn she will throw her body onto the trashiest pieces of garbage, guess they don't even need to have a dick."   
  
The clipboard man turned back to Sans glaring. Reaching down he grabbed the skeletons face and force him to lock eyes with Sans. "Better give me the best 'save me' face after this because if they don't break soon we are just going to fucking kill you and move onto someone else." He threaten and Sans mind ran a million miles a minute.   
  
As Sans absorbed the info as the man set up the tank. Sans waited until it was JUST in reach too-  
  
Feeling a swift foot against his face the man pushed back against Sans until he tucked his legs in to show he wasn't going to try and kick the tank again. Growling loudly through the muzzle the man just got more annoyed. "You sure weren't this energetic last time. Get a bit more sleep? Maybe I should have gone longer with the gas." The man decided to repeatedly slam his foot against Sans face out of anger before setting up the gassing tank and mask. Sans skull throbbed hard as he could swear the scar over his eye just got bigger. The male would place the mask over Sans' face and push hard encase he struggled. "You know what? That's a good idea really, lets open the valve a bit more..." Using his free hand the man pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth before playing with the valve.  
  
Sans could see the extra smoke pouring out from the sides of the mask over his muzzle. Making him unable to tell if it was just the gas physically hazing his vision or if it was just settling in that fast. The man smiled as Sans began to shake and thrash a bit.   
  
_It returned to white and his soul shivered in fear. He could only see a large smile from the man's shadow, it cackled in front of him as it held him down. His body felt like it was being pushed forcefully into tar. Struggling made it worst as once his bones touched the tar they became stuck. His head was forced under by the shadow and he was overwhelmed by the feeling of death._  
  
Everything felt blurred and sharp, he couldn't breath and he was going to die, he was sure he was going to die right now. He could feel his dust starting to leak over the chains that held him down. The only thing that was going to be left of him was this damned muzzle with his dust. He was- He was-  
  
 _Fully submerged in the tar. His bones were no more, dusted in this tar void. He stayed like that for what seemed like forever, no longer solid. It was almost peaceful until something shoved their hands into the tar and disturbed were his dust settled. It pulled at the pieces of his essence and forced him back together. Gasping at the pain that surged through his body he was-_  
  
He was fine.  
  
Opening his eyes the man was gone- The tank was gone- The gas was gone-  
  
How long was he out? He must have blacked out-  
  
Looking at himself the woman was holding him tightly, she was crying and holding him like he had died- Breathing in sharply he realized that he almost did.  
  
 _He could still feel the tar weighting him down._  
  
Both of them were shaking as she held him. Out of all the ways he has almost died before- being gassed was pretty high on the list of 'Don't let that happen again' for him. Looking down at her she seemed to have a few new bruises but they only seemed from being manhandled out of the room.  
  
Sans thought back to what the man said. Pretty soon they were just going to kill him and he didn't doubt that threat at all. It scared him just how little time left he had to get out. Looking at the woman who was holding him desperately. She had to know he wasn't going to survive all this much longer. God he hoped she knew just how little time he had.  
  
Just how many more chances would she have to get something to pick the lock with? Sans heard his bones rattling before he felt it, grabbing the padlock near his hand he started pulling on it as hard as he could in a panic. He just had to get out, he needed to do it now!  
  
He felt her reach around him and hold his arms still, it made him want to kick her away. He didn't want to be held down any longer! But looking into her eyes he started to match her long breathes to himself, noticing her gently stroke the back of his head as she held him.   
  
_He was surprised how soft the shadow could be._  
  
He was exhausted but once he was calm he felt the woman move off of him very slowly, as if he would be sent back into a panic. He was able to keep it together and was surprised when she placed her blanket over him. He watched confused as she walked over to the door and sat down, her back facing him but turned enough that her front was facing both the door and camera. And she sat right there for a while.   
  
It had gotten so quite that Sans could hear the whirling of the camera once more, he knew someone was switching between the two when the other moved slightly. The person behind it most likely just as confused as he was since she always avoided the door.   
  
From looking at her back he could see her elbow moving slowly up, hearing the small sound of moans. He... couldn't figure out what she was doing. Leaning against the wall next to the door the woman started moving her arms up and down her body. Was she...?  
  
He realized what was going on when the camera stopped moving, he wasn't doing anything worth focusing so it must be her...   
  
_He could just see the door moving as he listened to the sounds of her getting rapped on the other side._  
  
And she had started touching herself.   
  
Sans felt sick watching her do this for the camera, he never thought she would do that after being forced constantly. Did the stress of what was happening get to her? It was like she was just trying to get taken out of the room and raped again-  
  
 _Her fearful, determined face flashed in his mind-_  
She was trying to get removed from the room.  
  
It was surprising when the camera when back to auto but the woman continued, getting loud enough that she could be heard by someone who was on the other side of the door. Whoever they were they stayed and listened carefully. But after a moment they couldn't handle it and opened the door quickly just to drag her out.  
  
Sans was just left alone with her blanket on him. He just watched her basically sell herself to leave the room. Was she trying one more time to get something to help the chain off? How did she plan to do that when she was going to be raped by some random bastard? What if more than once person found out and they all decided to take turns? How would she sneak something past all that?  
  
Sighing Sans couldn't do anything but now felt awful, he was sure she was doing this to help him and the guilt ate at him. Part of him wanted to dust from it, he had heard of monsters dusting from guilt. Laughing a bit he would never been that lucky, after everything he has done dying by guilt would be a slap in the face to everything else he had to be guilty for.  
  
He expected hallucinations to start now that she was gone, but the universe decided to torture him with nothing. The stillness and deathly quiet made him want to scream, he did a few times when he couldn't handle it anymore.


	12. Heavy Lock

It was awhile before the woman was brought back to the room. The bastard this time that brought her was kind enough to carry her to the bed and set her on it gently. All the other times she had just been thrown or dropped and Sans stayed quiet and watched.  
  
The man gave her a little kiss on the forehead and she gave the fakest smile he had very seen. But the man had a love drunk look on his face so didn't notice and walk away. Once he was fully gone she got up and flipped over the bed in a rage, she couldn't scream but let out an almost dying choking noise as her mouth dropped open. She fell to her knees and cried for a while punching the flipped bed.  
  
Sans stared wide-eyed as she threw a fit. He had never seen her react much at all besides crying and he was finally able to see what kind of rage was stored in that thin body. Once she had calmed she weakly moved her bed back in place and laid on it, so far not once even looking towards Sans. He doubt he would want to met her eyes filled with that rage.  
  
 _He felt chills down his bones just trying to picture how hopelessness would look turned into rage._  
  
Once the two of them heard the camera go to auto again she got up and looked right at Sans. At first he thought she looked murderous but she was shaking with a serious 'dont' look to her face. He didn't know what she meant by that look but got worried either way.   
  
She carefully walked over to him still shaking a bit and sitting basically in his lap. Getting in his face with a scarily determined look. Pointing her finger right between his eyes and at the ground. Doing this a few more times trying to get a very serious point across.  
  
All Sans could figure out was that she was referring to him, and the spot he was at. Was she... really asking him to stay? Not like he could move he-  
  
She leaned against him and held him still. Sans started huffing annoyed as he didn't want to put together what she was telling to let him if it involved not moving. Raising a hand she traced through her matted hair then moved it down. Then he felt something being place in his hand. It was metal, a bit thicker and had a little bend to it. Sharply breathing in and holding it he reached for his padlock and-  
  
 _He could feel hands holding him down._  
  
She was holding him still, her eyes burning him with her intense glare. Was she... telling him to not move? Right after getting a lock pick? She would let go of his hands and he still would tried to get the padlock undone, which she allowed. But she would hold him down tightly by the forearms as he worked.  
  
Whatever she had handed him it was good enough for picking and he was able to make it work slowly, cursing himself for not remembering how much to jiggle each pin or how far to push them in. Almost hyperventilating at the loudest sound he thought he had ever heard.  
  
  
The lock fell off.  
 _He could feel the snap of the metal._  
The lock fell off.  
 _He could feel a weight lifted._  
The lock really fell off.  
 _He could finally-_  
 **THE LOCK WAS OFF.**  
  
  
Instantly he would pull up, he had done it! He was going to get out! He was going to be free again! He was going to be able to MOVE again! But she held him down with all the strength her little body had.  
  
 _But he was still trapped-_  
  
In anger he slammed his head into hers and they both growled at each other. Pushing each others faces together they had a test of wills staring into each others eyes. And it took a moment because of Sans excitement but he noticed that the void was mostly gone from her eyes. He could see her! And then shuttered on her overpowering look told him to stay.  
  
 _Her presence hovered over him, holding him down. But it didn't feel like she was doing so to keep him trapped. Now he could feel her soul thump, it was scared. It was trying to protect him._  
  
He was shaking and she guided his hands to hold onto the chains around his hands to keep them from falling off. He shook like a leaf because every part of his being was telling him to run but looking up at her-  
  
 _He could see her without the shadow._  
  
She was begging him to trust her, and he owed it to do so. She had just sold herself for god knows how long, endured who knows how many people and pain, the rage to make her use what little strength she had to flip a bed over. Just to be able to get that pick.  
  
He really did owed it too her to stay, even just for a moment.  
  
Extremely slowly she loosened her grip on him, then barely let go, then finally moved off of him holding her hands out like she was going to grab him again. When he didn't move she nodded and backed away still not trusting him 100%. But he decided to trust her for now even if it felt like it was going against every part of his whole being.  
  
She picked up her blanket before moved over to the door sitting down, leaning against the wall. Sans waited for something to happen but it didn't, when he hummed to get her attention she turned back with that freakishly determined look before facing the door again.  
  
At least he could tell she had a plan. He assumed that if she was waiting by the door then maybe the two of them were going to wait til someone opened before bolting? Once he thought of it like that it made more sense. They both were locked in the room with a camera watching them, if he was just walking around the room freely the camera would see that and they would send enough people to take them both out.  
  
Looking at the camera and listening he could tell it was still on auto, but it did see the whole struggle the two just had. What if they looked at that before coming to the room and brought more people? Sans thought about out of all the people that came through that door, which ones could he take down in his weakened state?   
  
For one he didn't have a ounce of magic to use without risking his life anymore than it was already at risk. He had just felt her strength and doubted she could take someone down- Maybe the two of them together could overpower one person. But all of those brutish bastards could easily take them both.  
  
Maybe the food guy but Sans never got a good look at that one or-   
He paused as he heard familiar soft footsteps, as if they were sneaking down the hallway.  
  
She quickly looked back at him and put a finger to her mouth to quiet him, then repeated the motion telling him to stay. The shaking desperation look to her was enough to let Sans know that he couldn't mess this up.  
  
She stood up quickly as the door softly opened. "Hey baby- FUCK!" It closed suddenly before reopening, she had stood so close to the door it scared the man again. She would tuck her arms and legs in as she stood trying to look cute? He reopened the door and smiled. "Aw, I missed you earlier today. But it looks like you haven't forgotten about me." he cooed and she was let out of the room.  
  
Sans listened with the feeling of vile building in his bones as the man fucked her against the door again. The strained moans came from her which sounded forced as hell, even for her. And the man took longer than before to finish, once he was done he gently pushed her back in the room and went to quickly close the door.  
  
In a flash the woman scooped up the blanket she left right at the door and blocked the lock. Grasping the handle with both hands she held it solid as the man wiggled it to make sure it was 'locked' on his side. She was pushing her whole body against the door hoping to reduce any little movement that might tip the guy off that the door didn't lock.  
  
 _The room had stilled with an intense force, he couldn't breathe. Not that he dare to try._  
  
He might have been too love drunk to really not notice the missing click of the lock and started to walk away. Sans watched as the color drained from the woman's face and she held her breath. He even felt like he was losing color just watching.  
  
He could feel his soul pound so hard in his rib cage that it felt like his bones were going it break from the force.  
  
And as his foot steps were completely out hearing, she let go of the handle and started moving her blanket back and forth like someone using a card to unlock a door would. Her whole body shaking like a leaf in a tornado. The blanket would snap back and the door creaked as it slowly opened.  
  
 _It was felt a portal to any entirely different world had opened._  
  
Sans dropped the chains he had been holding on and the two bolted out as fast as they could out the room without a second thought.


	13. Into a Void

_I felt my soul continue to pound so hard it that really did feel like it could break out of my body. I could feel her soul thumping as it did the same. Closing my eyes I could follow her at full speed just by the sound of her soul._  
  
Did they even breath as they ran? Sans followed the woman as it seemed like she knew where she was going. Their feet echoing through the barren hallways. Taking sharp turns down long paths, Sans became aware they were taking the long way. He just figured that she was guiding them around areas that people would be.   
  
_Opening my eyes all I could see was white walls, it was like the fog had hardened and I was a rat running through a maze._   
  
Not bothering to take in much detail he followed the woman closely but they soon caught up to the love drunk fool that unknowingly played a part in their escape. And Sans found himself for the first time questioning which path she took, because she went straight for the man. It was like his soul went from pounding like a drum to frozen still. In shock he watched as she lunged for the man and about to blow their cover!  
  
Using her blanket she hooked it around his neck and jumped onto his back. The love drunk fool gasped in shock as he was forced to the ground and she pulled back as hard as she could trying to choke him out. Confused the man tried grabbing the blanket and rolling. Rushing over Sans came up slamming a foot onto his back and started pulling the blanket with her added his own strength until the fool went limp. Sans thought she might have done that completely for revenge and risking them getting re-caught until she ripped a ring of keys from his body.  
  
Hiding the loud keys in her blanket she ran out as fast as she could down the hallway and Sans followed right behind her. Almost falling over she turned a corner suddenly and loudly slammed her body to a stop against the door, fumbling the keys. Noticing a key pad Sans inputted four different numbers that he had burned into his memory.   
  
_He locked eyes with her as she flashed various numbers with her hands, but it was hard to focus on her hands with the look she was giving him._  
  
It clicked green and she pulled out an odd looking key from the ring and started was shaking so hard that she couldn't get it in the keyhole. Sans grabbed her hands and steadied her as they unlocked it together.  
  
Flying through the door the two only took one more turn before seeing an emergency exit sign above a door. It just a push lock and bar to open, which they both slammed their bodies into at full force to open it. An alarm blared loudly as the two stepped out into the outside darkness.  
  
 _Suddenly all the white was gone and replaced with a void of darkness._  
  
It was hard to see as they had gotten use to the indoor lighting but could make out a tall fence blocking off the building from the forest past it. They both slammed into it with a loud clank before looking at each other and Sans motioned his head up, she thankfully didn't question it and started to climb quickly with a boost from himself.   
  
As she reach the top she let her blanket down so he could climb easier up and pulling him the rest when he was close enough too. Quickly jumping down but the woman fell ungracefully with a pained moan. Sans had guard training and knew how to land. But she scrambled up quickly ignoring any pain she had from the fall.  
  
Desperate they both ran as fast as they could into the forest and leaving the sound of alarms going off in the distant behind them. The sound of fallen forest debris rustling and snapping beneath their feet was quickly replaced the alarm as the loudest thing. Breathing heavily they didn't bother to try and quiet themselves as they ran full force as quickly as they could. Trying to put as much distance between themselves and the building.  
  
Neither of them knew how long it would take for the group to response to the sudden alarm or check the cameras to see what way they went. Sans grabbed her arm and force her to change direction hoping they would assume the two just went completely straight away from the base.  
  
It wouldn't matter if they had hounds, he was worked with plenty of them and knew they needed to change their smell quickly. But they didn't have enough time to stop and worry about that.   
  
They ran-   
  
_Was he seeing shadows in the dark? Where they really that close?_  
  
And ran-  
  
 _He could remember how it felt to run, and to be grabbed._  
  
And ran...  
  
 _He could feel them grabbing and slamming him to the ground, he had to move faster. They could be right behind him, he just HAD to go faster!_  
  
Sans heard a noise behind him and start the woman had fallen to the ground in a shaking mess, and he continued forward.  
  
 _He couldn't stop, if he stopped he would be caught, and he would be killed. He couldn't stop for anything-_  
  
.  
  
.  
  
.  
  
 _Heavy, like the whole world just fell over him like a blanket._   
  
It had only been a few steps before his soul felt like it had been turned blue, it felt so heavy that he couldn't continue forward. His mind screamed at him to keep running as fast as he could but-  
  
 _I could see myself back in that room, alone. Pulling on that chain as I waste away._  
  
 _I could see the limp crying body thrown into my space, it cried as it handed me a key. They asked for nothing in return._  
  
 _I could remember myself thinking as I look down on this human-_  
  
 _"I have nothing to offer her in this place, but I do outside. If I can... I should try to bring her. It's the least I could do for her help."_  
  
He turned heel and picked up the woman before continuing. Being overly slowed down by her weight and how awkward it was to run carrying someone through a dense forest. He could feel her shaking in pain and panting hard as if she couldn't get enough air in her. But he didn't have time to check on her and continued.  
  
 _A voice screamed at him to drop this human. She wasn't worth it, she wasn't worth risking his own life. A voice sounded like his own from back when he was in the underground. But he wasn't there, that wasn't him anymore._  
  
Sans ran for as long as he could holding her, but his breath became labored, his steps heavy, his mind blurred. It only took a bit of uneven footing to take him down. "MMMHH MHH!" He screamed out thru his muzzle and the woman scrambled out of his arms and dragged him over to a spot between some bushes for cover.  
  
 _Right now, with everything around him covered in darkness. Shadows and White fog threatening to pull him back. He held the little void that always there trying to pull him in.. pull him out of there._  
  
The two held each other tightly with the blanket between them. Taking a moment the held their breathes they listened for any noise. Was someone following behind? How close were they? Was it really a chance that they lost the bastards? If they rested would they be caught?  
  
 _Looking around I knew the shadows in the forest was my mind playing tricks, I know I can't trust what I see and... I'm afraid._  
  
After a moment of no noise they breathed, the knew they had to keep going but both shook in pain holding each other. They couldn't continue without at least a moment of rest and as the panic settled in and they looked around at their little hiding spot when it hit them.  
  
They got out. Sans couldn't tell who started bawling first but they held each other painfully tight and cried together. They could barely breathe and used what little air they got in to just cry.  
  
 _The crying never stopped but... it came with relief, I didn't want it to stop._  
  
While they were able to finally calm their breathing to a mostly normal state it took much longer to stop holding each while crying. But once they did they make sure the coast was clear and continued at a fast walking pace. Not being a good idea for either of them to run unless one of them wanted to pass out.  
  
They had no way of knowing where they were going, the forest was thick and covered much of the sky. Plus it was the middle of the night so they could barely see. Sans noticed the woman's blanket getting caught on various bushes and he was temped to tell her to leave but thought back to everything that blanket meant and everything they have used it for.   
  
_He could see everytime that piece of cloth was cried, bled, and comforted on. How it held a lock open, how it was a weapon, how it was a rope._  
  
He would help her rip it free if she couldn't during their escape.  
  
Time rolled on slowly walking in the darkness, at some point Sans just held onto a tip of the blanket just so he knew where she was. And for once he was guiding her around. Doing his best to keep his mind clear and ignore the tricks his eyes played. But every little bird or squirrel moving just felt like an oncoming attack. He flinched hard and tried to summon a bone attack to protect them and each time getting a harsh reminder that his magic had not yet recovered.  
  
 _He could see the eyes that followed him on his old patrols, just waiting for him to relax, to let his guard down._  
  
After hours of walking the sun finally started to come up they could make out the sounds of water, heading towards it they found a small steam in the forest. Quickly he grabbed her arm and pulled it with him into the freezing cold water. Knowing he needed to change their scent in case of hounds. She gasped brokenly as he forced her down into the water and she struggled confused. Her body violently shaking from the icy water.  
  
Quickly he started rubbing dirt and anything else he could on her before doing the same to himself. He felt a little bad that he couldn't explain with the muzzle on why he was forcing her, a tired naked woman into freezing water. But she just had to trust him on this. After watching him she did the same to the blanket and rinsed it out sorta. The dirt from the steam just made it look worst.  
  
She gasped brokenly again as something floated out of the blanket and quickly down steam, like a flash of silver before quickly disappearing. It was the set of keys she had grabbed from the love drunk fool. He didn't think much of it until the throb of the muzzle reminded him that he NEEDED keys. A small panic rose in him as they just lost keys but he quickly convinced himself that it was unlikely that it had the right key on it.  
  
Cursing through his muzzle he realized that it left the lock pick back in the room as well.   
  
They... would just have to figure something else out. They had been getting by wordlessly til now they could continue. Both of them left the water shivering, she looked up at the sound of Sans bones rattling from how cold it was. He ignored it and urged them forward and back into the forest.   
  
They somewhat kept track of the stream, Sans knew that all water leads somewhere. And their best bet was following it, but without being in the open. There was the chance they would just run into like minded people as the ones they just ran from and return them to that hellhole. He knew they would have to be extremely careful when they did find something.  
  
Around midday the two were moving at a snails pace, both exhausted and hungry. And Sans hated to admit his skills in the wilderness were lacking, they just went back to the stream and drank as much water as they could before continuing. Sans had to basically put his whole face into the stream to get water past his muzzle.  
  
They rested for a moment as the filled up on water. Looking over Sans noticed how many cuts the woman had on her arms and legs from running through forest. Her bandaged hand looking discolored and swollen, also a large bruise starting on her upper arm from falling off the top of the fence. Walking over to where she sat he moved one of her feet into his hands.   
  
Giving him a confused look at first but it twisted into pain as he moved the foot. Her feet were already pretty raw from stepping on rocks and sticks. He took a few moments to pluck out any splinters and she allowed it. He wanted to laugh at how much this reminded him of the first time she touched his feet.  
  
He would have tired rubbing the feet but he could tell it hurt enough already to the touch. Sighing he got up and looked around, she needed something like shoes but what? Moving his own feet in the dirt a little he remember twigs getting stuck between his bones but it wasn't something that would slow him down.  
  
Walking around he found some sort of bush with large leaves and ripped about six off. Thinking he realized that she could end up with an infection if too many thing got stuck in her feet. It was annoying how many things would affect her compare to him.  
  
Sighing he sat down with her again and started folding the thick leaves around her feet, trying to makeshift some shoes for her. Tying it was a little difficult but once on they looked like it would work. Standing up he would pull her up as well. She tested the leaf shoes by stepping down a few times. Looking up she gave a soft smile with bright eyes, but he only got a glance at those eyes before her head fell down and leaned into his chest.  
  
He hummed at her and soon felt hand move up his rib cage and hug him. He returned the hug gently and felt her shake a little, but she thankfully didn't cry. Sans couldn't help but wonder how long it had been since someone tried gently taking care of her. But it wasn't something he wanted to think about, focusing on how she would be less of a burden now. He didn't want any more reason to just leave her, he did really want to try and bring her.  
  
It wouldn't be long before they trekked away from the stream and back into the forest. Not having the energy to run they quietly walked. The sounds of the leaves in the wind covered over any noises that they were making.  
  
Sans noticed that between the sunlight and green that he wasn't seeing shadows anymore, hoping the gas had faded from his system but really he wasn't too hopefully until his magic would come back. But at least the view was peaceful... if nothing else. He still stayed on high alert in case someone would come up on them out here.  
  
Once the sun started to set did they slow down again, they needed to rest- badly.  
  
Sans took over looking around for something that would work, there wasn't any cave he could see but found a fallen tree that had a nice little spot of branches cluttered together. Moving them a bit he moved them enough for a hole and brought the woman into the makeshift shelter, hoping it still looked natural enough that they would be passed by if someone came along.  
  
The woman shivered as she sat on the cold dirt, the blanket also didn't help as it had not fully dried from last night yet. Sans would slowly take it form her and hang it on the inside of there little shelter so it would full dry. But it only made the air around them colder.  
  
When Sans finally laid down the woman quickly moved to hold him shaking, knowing she was freezing but also knew his bones wouldn't be able to give much heat at all. But at least he could be there now, holding her as well he remembered thinking about doing so before. He couldn't before, but he could now. 


	14. Forest Cabin

Waking up in the middle of the night Sans could hear something walk around, gently he covered the woman's mouth in case she woke up. But thankfully she was too tired and just laid completely still. The source of the noise would survey the area with a flashlight, combing over the area a few times before walking away. Sans made a mental note of which way they went so he could avoid that way at all costs.  
  
Each little noise caused him to freeze, every time the moonlight shined through the tree onto them he held his breath. He held onto her tightly just to keep his bones from rattling, fully expecting to see another flash of light on them the moment he closed his eyes.  
  
He couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.  
  
In the morning it started to rain and he sadly watched as the woman woke up to drops falling on her through her once again soaked blanket. Once she was awake enough Sans removed the blanket from the mini shelter and gave it back to her. Slinging it other her shoulder they would continue with a different direction. The woman looked a little confused but did not fight Sans choice.  
  
He felt dizzy as he walked and looked over to the woman, even though she just woke up she looked ready to pass out again. He knew he was hungry and thought back to when the last time she ate was-  
  
He ate her last meal.  
  
Groaning loudly he knew he had to be on the hunt for something safe to eat now. Sans glanced at all the little mushrooms and berries around them. And while they looked good he didn't recognize any from human food markets. Sans also KNEW there was a lot of poisonous stuff for humans in forests. And that was the LAST thing they needed, knowing he had to be SURE they could eat before risking it.   
  
Maybe he could hunt down a small animal but... he would have too cook it for it to be safe? He didn't want to stay in one place long enough to do that or start a fire that could give away where they were. Thinking back to last night he didn't couldn't be sure how close they were at any given point.  
  
They ended up settling on sipping water they found on large leaves for the second day in a row.   
  
It was grueling to trek blindly through forest and glancing back Sans was starting to get worried he might lose the woman that help him escape to exposure. Looking at her Sans could see how AWFUL she looked. Sighing they stopped and she instantly fell to the ground to rest, not even questioning it.  
  
Looking around Sans started to climb the tallest, easiest looking tree. Thankfully his bones didn't weight much and he crawled out onto one of the taller branches to look out over the forest.   
  
He couldn't even find where they came from, it was just trees every direction! Feeling panic rise in him he held onto the branch and gave himself a few more minutes to look around. Maybe he was seeing thing but he thought it could spot the roof of a small cabin in the distance.   
  
Leaning back against the truck of the tree Sans used both hand to pull on his muzzle. "That Way!" He got out before the pain of pulling on the muzzle made him let go. Then pointing in the direction to make sure she saw it.  She was still on her hands and knees resting but looked up to him. Then over in the direction he was pointing before nodding at him and faced that way. Waiting for him to come down from the tree. Sans took a soft moment to rub his skull around the border of the muzzle. He could feel little marks from it scrapping past bone. Ignoring the possibility of permit marks on his face he started climbing down. Normally he would just dug his claws into the wood and easily make his way down but he didn't have the strength to do so.  
  
He still almost made it down without a hitch but a small branch got caught between his ribs and yanked him sideways. He fell the rest of the way with the branch still sticking out of his ribs when he landed on the dirt. It felt awful to rip it out but he wasn't in the mood to carefully do so.  
  
The woman watched him with a worried but he brushed it off and walked over to her. She seemed confused for a moment until she realized he wanted her to tell him the way he pointed. They followed that for the rest of the evening.  
  
As the sun started setting Sans noticed the woman glancing over at anything the resembled food when passing it. Slowing down he looked over at a strange red berry bush, it seemed a bit out of place compared to the other black and blue berry bushes they have passed. Reaching out Sans felt the plant and it was waxy and the berries were hard. He really wasn't sure and looking back to the woman she anxiously waited for an ok.  
  
But feeling it against his finger tips he got a bad feeling starting to wash over him. Shaking his head he had to watch he slump down depressed. It was hard to watch because he just knew how hungry she must be feeling. He was too but taking her arm he pulled her along.  
  
As it got closer to night they just found a place between a tree and bush to lay on the ground to rest both exhausted. Sans noticed the woman about to sleep before she looked back up at him. They stared at each other for a moment before she reached up and put her hand over his eyes, trying to get him to rest his head down. He remembered how he had seen that flashlight before and couldn't bring himself to relax.   
  
But she didn't know that, she had been asleep. Sighing he sat up slowly to rest against the tree. But she would beat him to it and pulled on his shoulders towards her making him rest his head in her lap. She had the slightly damp blanket as a pillow between his head and her legs. Knowing how cold she was he removed the blanket and just rested his head on her bare lap. Not having the energy to fight it anymore.  
  
Sighing she tried to to cover his eyes again as she watched around. While Sans could figure that she knew he was worried about someone sneaking up he didn't know if he trusted her to not fall asleep after he did. His face must have shown his worry as she sighed with a pleading look. Taking her hands she traced his skull with her feather like touches, trying to lull him to sleep. It felt nice and he closed his eyes.  
  
But it would take a while for Sans to relax enough to sleep.  
  
He woke up a little before dawn and the woman gave him an extremely tired smile. Humming in an annoyed tone he wasted no time in siting up and forcing her to lay down. Basically switching positions and she almost cooed happily as she was given permission to finally fall asleep.  
  
Sans wasn't surprised that she instantly fell asleep the moment her head rested against him. Looking down at her he noticed a few black spots that he quickly figured out were bugs latched onto her. Carefully he plucked them off and squished them, watching her uncomfortably twitch in her sleep from it. Now that he was looking her over Sans started to notice how patches of her skin were slightly more red but she was a bit cold to the touch. Which he thought humans turned redder when hot not cold?  
  
It made his soul ache to see all the bumps, bruises and cuts on her. Then it hit him to check on her hand. It was still bandaged but between being throw in a muddy river and basically rolling it dirt the bandage looked awful. Taking her hand into his own Sans could see that her fingers were a slightly different color than her other hand. With how much her hand swelled before he realized that he needed to loosen the bandage. Gently he felt the wound under the wrap and it was hard like it was healed to the cloth.   
  
Without wanting to rip a large scab off her in her sleep he just unwrapped the bandage until that part. Massaging her fingers he could already feel a warmth return to her fingers. He settled for a while holding her hand, then placing his other hand on her head. Lightly brushing his claws over her scalp and removing any knots that he could easily. Some would take much more effort and he didn't want to wake her just yet.  
  
Keeping a look out for the rest of the morning, watching the light of the sun peak through the trees. The morning sun bathed his cold bones with warmth and he felt, calm. While no where near the same... this feeling kinda reminded him of leaving the underground. The sun was wonderfully warm. But when the sun finished rising fully he had to wake the woman up. She seemed a little confused about her almost unwrapped hand but didn't bother Sans about it.  
  
They dragged themselves out of there little shelter and towards the small cabin Sans had saw before. Or at least he hoped so, not really wanting to climb a tree again partly because of how tired he was but also he didn't want to deal with the feeling of not seeing it. It was there and he just had to believe that. He needed too.  
  
It had been a while before Sans heard a smacking sound, looking behind him the woman had her hand against her arm looking a bit scared. Then he started to noticed the bugs flying around her. One would lay on her again and she smacked it dead, not waiting for him she moved forward while swatting away bugs.  
  
Part of him felt bad but also happy that he was a skeleton. Or at least he would think that until one flew up his neck and into his skull.  
  
"MHMM!" He jumped and uncomfortable shoved his hand as far as it could into his skull. Instantly making him want to puke he dropped to his knees and somehow got the bug out. Holding his hands over his muzzle did NOT want to throw up with this damned thing on.  
  
Carefully making her way back over the woman brought him back up to his feet and the two somewhat raced away from the area.   
  
Once they got away from the patch of flying bugs he looked her over. She already had even more little red bumps appearing and without thinking he poked one. Letting out an aired gasp in pain and smacked his hand away. Giving him a betrayed look for a moment and just tried to look as sorry as it could.   
  
They would be more cautious of any more buzzing sounds continuing forward.  
  
Sans was beginning to question if he was going the right way for hours as they walked, shifting his eyes around for any sign that they were heading the right way. He felt a little defeated until they came up to a dirt road. It was small and looked to be only able to fit one car.  
  
Excited he couldn't think of any other reason the road would be here but for the cabin, looking down the other way it might that the road could lead to a town though. Thinking back to then he climbed the tree he didn't see any towns that would be anywhere close to the two.  
  
He glanced over at the woman and he started to fear for her health once more, exposure was a nasty thing to die form what heard. Sighing he took the risk of being discovered and followed the road. Being careful to listen it anyone was coming.  
  
Around the middle of the day they had to step off the road to rest. It was partly uphill and neither of them had the energy to be doing this. Panting hard he suddenly missed traveling the stream, wishing he had some way of carrying water with them. Just as he felt his vision fade out a small bump woke him back up, looking over the human was starting to fall asleep against him. Hell he almost did too, but he had to pull her back to her feet and continue.   
  
At least walking over the flatten dirt was much easier than the fallen debris of the forest.  
  
The sun had stared to set when the finally got to the cabin, it looked overgrown but in ok condition. Which gave Sans a small flutter of joy in his soul, knowing they had found some real shelter. But it almost meant no one to help was in there to help them, though at this point he would rather still be hidden than found by the wrong people.  
  
But of course the cabin was locked. He thought about it, he could just breaking in? Looking to his side the woman was checking under mats and planters and he joined her. If need be he could break in later after looking. But the normal spots like under the mat, planters, railing didn't yield a key. Sans was temped again to just break the window but watched as the woman moved down to the piles of decorative rocks in front of the cabin.   
  
Sans was tired and didn't mind sitting down with her and looking through the rocks. Even if he doubted someone would throw a key between them. It was almost dark when they finally found the key in a funny looking fake rock. He doubted they would have even found it if they weren't so desperate and checked literally everything in the piles.   
  
It smelled a little slate walking in but it felt like a 5 star hotel compared to sleeping in the dirt. It was a cute little cabin that looked like it was used for vacations. It had a fireplace next to a makeshift camper stove, oven combo. Storage cabinets, a table, a bed-  
  
They both raced for the bed the moment they saw it. Loudly sighs of relive echoed form both of them. Wasting no time the woman fell right asleep and it felt like Sans only blinked for a moment but realized it was fully nighttime when awaking back up. Weakly pulled himself up off the bed and wandered in the dark room.  
  
Walking through the cabin was hard but he managed to make it back to the open front door to lock it. He was temped to find a light but that would attract attention for sure if someone saw it through the window or something. Wandering around the cabin he found a bathroom complete with a mini shower, not thinking it would work he turned the water on and the coldest, freshest smelling water came out.   
  
He didn't care and grabbed some random soap bar he found and started washing. It wasn't the type of 'clean' he was use too from before all this started but he would take anything right now. Feeling around in the dark he found a small washcloth and used it to mostly dry himself off.  
  
By the time he came out the woman was sitting up and staring at his direction. He grunted to let her know it was him and she seemed to relax. She came over to him and he could tell she was confused by his 'clean' smell. Then as she touched his arm in the dark he didn't have such a gritty feel to him.   
  
Sans smiled under his muzzle and guided her to the washroom and help her get started, feeling bad for her when that cold water hit her. Carefully he helped her peel the rest of the bandage off to reveal a poorly healing wound. That bastard did a curled cut so it was wider that it should have been. Sans watched as she moved the hand open and closed with difficultly. He had a feeling that her hand might always be tight from now on, which pissed him off more at the bastard. After getting it decently clean he help her remove the rest of the knots from her hair while in the shower.  By the time she was done the sun was starting to rise and he was able to fish out a more properly sized towel for her.  
  
He left her to dry off as he looked more through the cabin, heading straight for the kitchen. They had been so tired that it slipped both of their minds to look through it. But Sans wasn't surprised to see it empty. Leaning down he was checking the extra storage feeling defeated already.  
  
Holding his breath when he saw a seal contained in the very back of a lower cabinet and Sans struggled to pull out the weighty object. The woman came over to see what he had. By the way it sounded being tossed around in the container they figured it was some kind of rice... Together the fought to get the container open. Putting there four hands around one side and pulling hard it finally popped up with force making the two almost fall backwards. They stared at some kind of dried oats and dug their hands straight in.  
  
The two ate like animals with those oats, and since they were uncooked and dry it was awful. But they had gone days without eating and didn't care. Sans having to eat slower as he tried forcing the little bits of oats through his muzzle. The woman struggled with shoving too much at a time and held her hands over her mouth trying to force herself to swallow.  
  
Laying down they were holding themselves as their bodies protested the food at first, then closed the lid and continued to look around. Knowing that they had more food at a given noticed they gave their bodies a moment to digest. Hell maybe they could even cook the oats next time.  
Looking around they gathered that some sort of lumber worker might own his place or at least left the tools encase something needed repair. They even found a few plaid shirts, overalls, and deep snow jackets. All being extremely too big for either of them, but that hardly stopped the two from finding ways to wear them anyway.  
  
The woman took the overalls and a shirt. The shirt looked like a large dress on her but she would tuck that into the overalls as she put them on over the shirt. unsnapping the straps she tired the front panel to the back over her shoulders.   
  
Sans took the leftover straps and would use them as a belt to keep the extremely large work pants he found from falling off his bones. Taking one of the winter coats he noticed it had several removable layers. Flipping that around he made a makeshift shirt and tied it at the waist so the loose part wouldn't get caught on anything.  
  
Both of them looked silly, everything was still too big to comfortably run it needed. But for now- they were clean, dressed, and out of the elements. They could mix and match and tie things down better later. Taking a second pass around the closet Sans unfortunately couldn't find any shoes. Not like they haven't gone without before but he knew the woman's leaf shoes weren't going to cut it for long. He would have to figure something else later.  
  
Carefully peeking out the windows Sans made sure no one was around before exiting the cabin. It was still daytime and it felt nice to just stand for a moment, but a creeping fear didn't let him relax long. Walking around the cabin was a covered plastic storage bin. Ripping away the faded plastic to save for later and he watched as several spiders ran for their lives.  
  
For a moment he thought of Papyrus at Muffet's, it use to annoy him so much but- he hoped his brother would at least talk to someone while he was missing. If he didn't open up to Undyne then maybe he would open up to that damned Spider.  
  
Waking him up from his daydream the woman was cautiously walking out to find him. The two held the lid to the plastic bin together and pulled out everything. It was mostly various tools for lumber and lawn keeping. Also maybe some oil or paint bins? They were rusted and they didn't mess with those.  
  
Dropping the lid Sans picked out an okish looking axe, testing out how weighted in his hand while swinging it when he noticed the woman frozen with a pair of gardening clippers in her hands. It took him a moment to process why she would be so shocked about them. As the thought came to mind she was nearly on top of him and tackling him to the ground.   
  
Forced to the ground he didn't put up a fight purely out of shock as she went straight for the padlock locking his muzzle on. Both of them in a panicked frenzy that the clippers kept slipping. Sans would let himself be shoved down to the ground face first when she sat on his back. Holding his head between her tights to keep everything still, Sans would grab onto her legs trying to be as still as possible as well. Not caring when the clippers slipped and nicked his skull at all.  
  
The noise of grinding and chipping metal filled the air and Sans couldn't tell if the clippers were breaking or the lock. It felt like the seconds were hours before something finally snapped and she dropped a very clearly damaged clippers to the ground. After a little pulling he thought he heard the best sound in the world. The padlock hit the dirt.   
  
He barely gave her time to get off of him as he shot up. His hands pulling on the muzzle until it scrapped across his face coming off. He threw it as far away from himself as he could and held his jaw open with his hands and screamed.  
  
The sound of the primal scream the skeleton let out made the woman flinch and she worried for him but after letting out that scream of relief he tackled her with a hug and laid on top of her. He couldn't find words to use because they require him to close his jaw even for a second to say them.   
  
She listened to his small noises he made now that he was able to open his mouth without the pain of scraping the metal muzzle across his face. He could feel himself cry as he hugged her tightly. She just smiled and cuddled into him, petting the back of his skull where the muzzle use to connect.


	15. Tools

Back inside the house Sans would wander about looking for anything of use now that the muzzle off and he had calmed down. Speaking out loud each thought he had just to use his jaw and voice.  
  
"We need to find if this cabin has a phone or maps around. I dont want us stuck out in the forest for weeks on end, hell I would settle for a compass at least..."  
  
"Lets empty out this tool bag to bring supplies, actually which tools would be useful to bring? Doubt we will need the screwdrivers and wrenches. I'm at least bringing the axe. Oh do you think this pocket knife could be useful? Is it too small? "  
  
"Would this work to carry water? Is there any sort of contain we can take these oats with us so they don't get wet and go bad? How much should we take? We can't carry this whole bucket with us..."  
  
"How long do you think we should stay here? I know we should rest as much as we can while we have the chance but... If we rested one more night do you think they would start to catch up?"  
  
"Is there any bandages or medicine around? I mean we could just tear pieces of these clothes- They are so big on us lets do that anyway. Leave enough to protect your skin but lets try and remove enough to not get caught on thorns and branches. Where did I set that pocket knife? That would be good to use now."  
  
"How long would it take for the gas those bastards used on me to get out of my system? This would be so much easier with magic... I've tired using it but it's not quite there yet, but I can at least feel it."  
  
The woman sat on the bed looking comfortable but lightly holding her gut and had the blanket over herself like a shawl. The blanket was the one that was already on the bed. She had left the older one in the bathroom to dry. She smiled lightly watching him run about the house and talking. Never really inputting besides head shakes and hums.  
  
Sans looked back to her sometimes expecting more of an asnwer before remembering. After doing it a few more times he stopped what he was doing and came over to hug her gently. Pulling her head into the crook of his neck. He could feel a rumble from her as she let out a relaxed hum. "Sorry I know you can't talk, we will figure something out." Sans felt a gentle pair of hands sneak up behind him to return the hug. After a few moments he pulled back and check with her.   
  
She was lightly smiling but was still too thin and hurt and pale and- but there was a bit of light in her eyes. He wasn't seeing the void look that made him want to run away from her. He gave her a wide grin and continued about the cabin. Letting her be to rest on the bed. She flopped back down and curled into the thick blanket and without Sans running his mouth she was able to fall into a light sleep. Glancing back up he focused and could hear the soft sounds of her breathing, it was still a relaxing sound to listen too.  
  
Searching around a bit more Sans was able to find a second longer duffel bag. Taking all the supplies he thought they would need and the two bags he sat down in the open living room, taking a survey if they missed anything. Then began packing and unpacking them repeatedly trying to make the best use of space AND that it wasn't too heavy to carry encase they needed to start running. it was a surprisingly difficult and drawn out process.  
  
For 'dinner' they went back to the dried oats. Sans had stopped them at first and tried finding a way to cook them. Placing them in a bit of water to soak while he tired figuring out how to turn on the stove. But the woman just sat down with the bucket in her lap and ate them raw out of it. Ignoring her he continued to play with the stove just to find out it didn't have any fuel. He sat down annoyed with his wet oats not wanting to waste any food while she crunched her dry ones.   
  
"I swear when we get back to a city I'm going to cook a real meal." Sans complained as he ate.  
  
Making sure everything was packed up before sunset the two headed to bed, not wanting to be making much noise or light during the night that would attract attention. Both laying together on the single bed, not quite glued together like they had in the forest but a comfortable closeness between the two. Later on Sans was the first to wake up while it was still dark out. Quietly he stumbled for the bathroom and took a shower, figuring it was going to be his last one for a while. And redid his clothes so they held tighter to his body and cut off anything dragging. Then got her up for her to do that same.  
  
While she was washing up Sans took the time to take the scraps of fabric and tie them together into a sort of slipper shoe thing. It looked bad but he hoped that if she stepped on a thorn of something she wouldn't get her foot ripped open. Once she was out Sans sat her down on the bed and tied the scraps to her feet. She gave him a weak smile and once allowed to stand the woman hug him.   
  
He pulled her into a hug as well, getting a sense of relief from it.   
  
Parting from the hug Sans pulled up her hand to check her healing wound. It didn't look... good. It was a bit off colored and he wasn't too sure if it was infected or not. But wasn't willing to pop it open to double check. Running his fingertips over it he watched her flinch slightly but give no complaint. "Just... try not to catch it on anything." He warned her and used a scrap of a shirt to tie about the hand. Just enough to keep it on but not to cut off and circulation.  
  
As the went to leave now Sans noticed something missing. "Where is your blanket?" She shook her head and Sans stood in front of her and glanced back into the house. Then looking at her. "Are you sure?" She nodded and while he didn't know what made her suddenly not want to take something that was so important she carried while running for life. Frowning he waited a second but she didn't chance her mind.   
  
"Ok then." He nodded and the two re-locked the house and left it. As temping as it was to stay it was a huge risk, he wasn't sure just how far they made it away from their captors on foot but it he couldn't imagine it was all that far.  
  
At least now Sans felt like some of his strength was coming back. They were mostly fed and rested, clothed too. Over all the two of them had a much better chance and had this little cabin to thank for it. Assuming it didn't belong to the group that they were prisoners for Sans made a note to find the owner and thank him. If the group did own it he might come back just to burn it to the group out of spite.  
  
Thinking about it now he had a lot of things he could do to them out of 'spite' for all this.  
  
They hiked down the road for a bit in silence, it was easier to do but left them out in the open. Even though Sans had an Axe it was still nerve wracking. Every little noise make them jump preparing to run. Sometimes when the noise sounded like it was coming for them Sans pulled the woman behind him and held the axe forward. Glancing at whatever bird or squirrel cause the noise before ignoring the animal.  
  
As midday came around they slowed to a brisk walk to eat, never really wanting to stop. Sans was extremely temped to talk but he somewhat fear his voice echoing and them being heard. Rubbing his jaw he was just thankful to have the muzzle off. He could wait a bit longer to run his mouth again.  
  
Though he did notice a few marks in his skull for having it rub against him for so long. They didn't seem that deep but he has not looked at himself in a mirror in a long time. And really hopped that this didn't end with yet more scars on his face. Placing a hand over his eye he remembered how he got it, and how he really didn't need anything like it again.  
  
Humming the woman watched him concerned and he gave her a smile back. "I'm fine." He spoke softly and let his hand down. The woman would give him a sad look of concern and lower her head a bit. Giving Sans the feeling that she wanted to ask something about his scar. Or at leased he assumed so, most people were curious about it. But until she pointed it out he wasn't about to freely start talking about it.   
  
As it drew closer to night Sans pulled them off the dirt road towards the dense parts of the forest. But still close enough that they could find the road again later. Pulling out a plastic tarp he found at the cabin and made a makeshift cover between some bushes and trees. Both of them gathering leaves and sticks trying to make it as unnoticeable as possible.  
  
Sans realize how much of a pain in the ass this was to do, but he told himself that he would do it every night. He knew the one night he didn't they would be found, the universe just worked like that.  
  
The two cuddle close one again, something about feeling each other breathe and exist was comforting and help them ignore how uncomfortable it was to try and sleep on the ground. She would hold onto his clothing and he played with her hair for a while trying to sleep. A little proud of himself for getting a few knots out before finally falling asleep.  
  
Sans would be woken up with a hand over his mouth.   
  
Instantly the panic made him think of the muzzle and he let out a small grunt. Suddenly a light was flashed towards them and he completely froze. His eye lights went out and him and the woman held their breath.  
  
Now that he was awake he realized she was holding him down, and the light moved from their direction. "Man the only thing I've seen is raccoons or squirrels." Someone complained. Sans couldn't believe how close the voice was, it wasn't right on top of him but WAY to close to relax or even try breathing.  
  
He was to afraid to shift to see how many people where there. But listening he counted many three? Clutching onto the woman's shirt the two wait until the group moved along, then waited even longer.  
  
Finally they breath cautiously, they wanted to run but if the group was still somewhat close they might see them. And since they were starting to move on it was just safer here. Sans wanted to laugh at the thought of being safer right now. Slowly moving he would clutch the axe and turn so he could keep watch.  
  
He was never able to get back to sleep and he was pretty sure the woman didn't either. When the sky started to brighten they quietly took down the tarp and packed it. Sans thought about leaving it because of the noise it made but it might have just been the reason they didn't see the two. It was worth taking for now.  
  
Sans took a few moments to figure out which direction the group went towards last night, it was somewhat towards the cabin. He felt a little panicked as they left that place a mess and items that would tell the two had been there. While the two didn't travel the road they followed it somewhat, keeping the fastest pace that they could maintain.  
  
Coming across a small little stream the woman broke from him and almost dove down to drink from it. He followed but didn't realize she was that desperate til now. Once full enough they continued and Sans studied her between keeping a look out as they traveled.  
  
She always looked in bad health, so that wasn't anything new to him. She seemed brighter now that the two were free but, he did remember her never doing anything physically- well besides.  
  
He sighed trying not to think about it, the woman looked up to him concerned and he shook his head. "It's nothing." He spoke quietly and waited a bit before glancing down at her again. It was completely possible that trekking through the forest almost never stopping was getting to her. Sans didn't think much of it, he always pushed himself to the limits if able.  
  
But he also didn't want to slow down anymore than they had already. She also never complained- but she was mute how could she-  
  
Sans wanted to smack himself, she would let him know. She didn't need to speak to talk to him. But he realized that she might just continue no matter how dead on her feet she was, just to get away from there she might continue til she dropped dead.  
  
Sans found himself feeling guilty for liking that, not for dropping dead but that she wouldn't give up anymore. It was a confusing feeling and when the sun had started to set he realized that he had pushed her almost without stopping today, they didn't even eat.  
  
But after coming so close to being found she might have wanted to get as far away as possible. Setting up the tarp again he noticed her bring a little less to cover it, and she seemed exhausted.  
  
Before they laid to sleep he sat her down and offered her some oats. She looked a little sad and held her gut, lightly shaking her head. So she felt too ill to eat?   
  
"Eat." Sans commanded before quietly asking. "...please." She thought about it for a few moments before accepting. Sans ate a bit as well before they both laid down. He made sure to face away from her and towards the exit of their little shelter, gripping the axe tightly if it was needed. She would curl against his back and breath into shirt on his back. It took some time but he started to feel the heat coming through the cloth from her breathing. It was relaxing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title "But there was only one bed..."


	16. Weak

Neither of them were sleeping as they laid down, Sans clutched the axe in his hands and she would be holding onto his shirt, freezing up at any little noise. Annoyed Sans realized if neither of them were going to sleep it was pointlessly to be resting. Part of him wanted to just pack up and continue in the dark but the thought her just dying on her feet past his mind again.   
  
Letting go of the axe and turning back towards her he held her body with both arms. "Sleep, ill keep watch." He whispered to her and she shook a little and held him tighter. Sighing he started to stroke her head. He hated how he could feel her heart race with fear, how her body react at every little noise.  
  
He would whisper into her hair as he held her up to his chest. "...please, sleep." It was like trying to comfort a child, he found himself not minding. Once he was sure she was finally asleep he gently took the axe again and let himself sleep.  
  
Sans woke up right as the sun started to rise but make sure that he didn't move a single bone. Letting the woman get as much rest as she could before getting up. But he couldn't help lightly touching her, her face was soft but boney. Her shoulder was more so just boney. He found himself pleased with her thinness, simply because he could pretend she was a skeleton like himself.   
  
But knowing what being this thin meant for a human made him feel sick enjoying it for even a moment. When she finally woke up she was shocked on how bright it was and tired getting up, Sans held her for a moment not letting her. She just quietly relaxed back into his embrace.  
  
He wasn't even sure why he didn't let go, it was a waste of time. But pressing his face into her hair he could smell her, the human smell, the forest smell, and himself a little. But she no longer smelled of powdery white fog or dark shadows. He realized that he hadn't been plagued with those imagines for a while now.  
  
After a few moments he finally let her go and they both got up wordlessly. But dragged their feet once they got going, Sans was thankful for the growing spark of magic he could feel in his bones. It wasn't quite usable but it was there.  
  
Looking over to the woman while walking he noticed how the pack she carried weighted on her. Without complain she would switch which shoulder she carried it on. He debated for a moment offering to carrying it but he already had the heavier pack and the axe. Soon he would start to hear her raspy breaths and slow down just a little, hopefully enough so she didn't notice but so she could catch her breath.  
  
But she never did, but she also never complained. Fighting with the idea he slowed down a little more. All he had to do was thinking of her collapsing and he couldn't reason the risk and started going slower.  
  
It was getting close to midday again when Sans stopped them to eat, starting to pull out the container of oats he heard a noise. Freezing in place trying to listen and the woman did too it was far away but, it was a car.  
  
Looking back to the direction of the road he knew they were far away enough to not be spotted but a car coming up this way meant one of two things. Either the owner of the cabin was coming back or-  
  
Sans grabbed her by the arm and started ran, moved both of them much deeper into the forest. He knew those bastards must have found the cabin and were bringing more people to search this area. Meaning he HAD to get as far away as possible from it. The two were almost running pace for a while, panting hard and not worrying about being loud.  
  
He stopped as soon as he saw the woman go down, landing on her hands and knees shaking. Her horsed breathing struck hard through his soul and he moved over to her instantly. She looked ready to pass out with hazed eyes.   
  
Looking around Sans didn't think this was far enough, he worried that taking another step would make her full pass out and he was so exhausted himself he didn't know how far he could carry her. But he also worried that if they stopped to rest she would just pass out anyway. He wanted to keep her awake and moving.  
  
He forced her to give him his pack and help her up, carrying both packs over on shoulder and guiding her along with his other hand. They walked at a snails pace and Sans led the way, after a while he turned to look at her wondering why she had not caught her breath yet. But he quickly figured out it was because she had started crying hard, stopped for a moment to comfort her but she pushed him away. There was barely any force in her push but Sans was so tired that he almost fell over.  
  
Slapping her faces to her own face she stood there crying. It took a second for Sans to work out why she was upset. "I'm not leaving you." He told her and she bawled harder, both of them knowing Sans could make it much farther if he just left her but-  
  
After everything he couldn't do that. Shoving her pack back in her hands she thought he was finally going to leave her but let out a strained gasp when he picked her up. She could feel his arms shaking a little and his steps where heavy but he trekked for a bit longer carrying her.  
  
She cried in guilt the whole time. But Sans couldn't maintain his pace for long, he found a mostly covered spot and collapsed down to his knees to let her go. Then let himself fall down onto the ground.   
  
He could heard her pulling up the tarp and her leaving him to gather anything she could use to cover it. Once she joined him in the little shelter he noticed that her tears had dried up but her face showed that she was still wanting to cry. He struggled to sit up somewhat and pull the pack over to himself.  
  
Pulling out a contain of emergency water he held it up to her. She took it and quickly unscrewed the top to offer back to him. No, he was offering it to her it was so painfully obvious she was dehydrated. Sans gently pushed it back to her and her face fell, if she had more tears she would being crying them.   
  
After a little back and forth they both ended up 'sipping' the water. Sans cheated and just held it against his mouth, he had hope she didn't do the same. The two sat as quiet as possible in the little shelter. Sans knew that after carrying her he needed to rest, he couldn't even bring himself to sit up. The two just hid together listening to the wind blowing through the trees. It was a bit past mid day when Sans felt himself starting to fall asleep. He would reach for the axe to hold it as he slept but she took it instead. Holding it as someone was coming up on her this moment, her whole body shaking like a leaf. Sans wanted to comfort her but he was too exhausted.  
  
 _He could heard their footsteps in the forest as he slept._  
  
Waking up later in the middle of the night, she was still in the same spot but shaking less. Was she really that scared to be still shaking? But then he thought about it, he was so whacked out. Did someone... come by? And he passed out right before hand?  
  
She looked relived to see him awake. He took the axe back from her and she moved closer to hug him. "Did..." He spoke in a whisper as she cuddled into his chest. "... someone come by?" He asked and she instantly nodded her head heavily, sans held his breath for a moment realizing that he was right.  
  
It had only been half a day and they were this close already? Which way were they going? If there was too many of them which direction would they go? Looking down he realized the woman had already passed out on his chest. He knew he couldn't fall back asleep after this.  
  
Every part of him wanted to start moving under the cover of night but- He was seriously getting concerned for her health. The least he could do was let her rest, but it haunted him thinking about how she might be the reason they get found. He didn't hate her for it and while he told himself that if that happened then he wouldn't blame her. But his soul still hurt knowing that he might.  
  
Clenching the axe in his hand and the other holding the woman he had a dark thought. Would she... prefer to be dead that get caught? How much more could her body endure out here? If it really came down to it... would he do her one final mercy? He felt himself starting to cry and flip the blade of the axe to stick into the ground and let go of it.  
  
Using one hand he covered his mouth as he tired to hold back the few tears that fell. He knew how bad her health had gotten, he saw how she was treated, and he knew that he would kill her if she had to go back to that. God he could clearly see her smiling at him as he did it, she would be happy to finally rest.  
  
Would he turn the blade on himself? The thought help him stop crying because he knew he wouldn't. He could handle going through all that again, even more so knowing that he got out once. He knew he could do SOMETHING to get out again... right? Not like he did anything the first time, he owed her for his escape.  
  
 _He saw myself in that corner alone, left to rot._  
  
It felt selfish for willing to end her but not himself wasn't it? He wished he could fall back asleep again but knowing just how close someone might be he couldn't. A slow gentle pair of hands wrapped around his neck to hug him, he didn't quite realize he was shaking enough to wake her up. Sighing he wiped his face off with his hand then placed it on her head. "Sleep?" He asked her and she shook her head.   
  
He knew if he argued that he could get her to go back to sleep, he really should too considering she slept maybe an hour if that? But he didn't want to be here anymore, and quickly he packed up the tarp.  
  
They trekked the rest of the night, seeing long lights in the distance. At first they avoided them but as most passed Sans realized that it was load trucks. Carefully they got closer and closer and came across a interstate highway. Hitchhiking sounded like there best bet to get to a town quickly, and to get caught quickly.  
  
As the morning came they walked out of sight but near the road, looking for a call box or something. Sans kept tract of the interstate numbers signs but it never seemed to come across a sign that said how far til the next city.  
  
They let two different trucks pass as they searched for the call box. But looking up Sans realized it was already getting pretty late when a third finally started coming fast. If they weren't finding any call boxes by now he knew he needed to start trying to hitchhike. Sans went to go for it but the woman stopped him by grabbing both his arms firm. It remembered him of the look she gave him right before she gave him the finally lock pick.  
  
He nodded and waited in the bush while she went to the side of the road and helplessly waved down the truck. It slowed down to the stop just past her and she ran to the door. She opened the door but didn't get fully inside, waving her hands around trying to let the person driving know she couldn't talk.  
  
Sans came up slowly behind the woman and grab the door with his free hand. "Could you take us-" The man driving took one look at Sans and punched the gas. The two of them were slammed by the open door and fell from the truck as it drove off.   
  
Sans rubbed his side that got hit and she held the side of her head. Puzzled Sans replayed what happened in his head, was walking up behind her really enough for that reaction? He looked to the woman confused and once she got the ringing in her head to stop she let him know that happened with a single touch.  
  
She touched the Axe he had. Sans realized he literally was a skeleton that appear out of the bush with an axe at night. He dropped the weapon and put both his hands on his face to groan loudly. Of course he freaked the guy out and now was mad at himself for not realizing that would happen. Maybe it was just because how exhausted he was.  
  
Getting up they stood on the side of the road for a few minutes. They could go back into the forest to rest or... try again? Sans didn't want to ditch the axe encase they needed to defend themselves, but he knew if someone saw him bring it into the truck or car the same thing would happen.  
  
Hell it might happen anyway, he was a literally skeleton and she looked more than half dead.


	17. Hitch Hiking

At first they decided to just try and get another ride, Sans had shoved the axe the best he could into the duffel bag but the handle stuck out a little. Only two more trucks past them and almost seemed to speed past them. Maybe the guy had radioed to other drivers, or because it was the middle of the night. Who wants to pick up random couple in the middle of the night?  
  
Sans got annoyed and pulled the two from the road and set up to sleep. He felt a little more comfortable sleeping since it seemed no one was stopping for them that meant they weren't with the group that was searching this area for the two of them.  
  
It unfortunately rained that night, the plastic tarp ended up being amazing but they still got a bit wet.  
  
In the morning they didn't bother trying to re-wrap the soaking wet tarp, which it was great to have it but it stopped raining and with the thought of being picked up soon they figured it wouldn't be needed. Plus the axe fit better in the duffel bag without the tarp in there.  
  
The first truck passed by and the two weren't surprised. They made sure to walk in full view in hopes someone would take pity on them, and because it was getting harder to keep walking. Both suffering from exhaustion and lack of decent food or healthy amount of water. And Sans was having a even harder time getting the woman to eat, she just brush off the oats each time while holding herself in pain.  
  
Thankfully the next truck stopped, it was much smaller like a moving rental. It even had a smaller car being hauled behind it. Sans opened the door first and slowly moved into view.  
  
"Hey we could really use some help getting too-" Sans stopped when the man flinched.  
  
"Jesus Christ your a monster." He backtracked. "I mean sorry i wasn't expecting a skele-"  
  
Sans put on a fake smile. "Nah it's ok, we really need a ride to the next town or city." The older man looked over Sans and the woman with them and grew suspicious.  
  
"Sure thing, haha not an axe murderer right?" He waved the two in and Sans held his breath and smile. "Nope."  
  
Sitting down Sans took the edge and the woman in the middle because she fit best between with her small frame. He would put his feet on top of the bag with the axe trying to shove it as out of sight as he could. The man unfortunately wanted to make small talk rather than listening to just the radio.  
  
"So... how did you two end up on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere?" He tried to ask cautiously but was nervous.  
  
Sans mind quickly raced trying to find an excuse. Figuring the truth would get them kicked out back on the road. "Was... staying in a cabin-" he looked out the window to see it starting to rain. "-and a landslide took out the cabin and car. Been trying to get back to town to call family to pick us up."  
  
The man nodded a little relieved. "Didn't know there was cabins this far out, must be nice place to vacation?" He asked and Sans nodded. "It was til the landslide..."  
  
The man chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah I'm sorry to hear that, hopefully you got insurance on it?" Sans nodded in reply. Which caused the cab to go silence, some country was playing and Sans fought himself enjoying it over talking to the man.  
  
The man driving though seemed to find the silence even more awkward. "So it was just the two of you out there?" Sans replied quickly "...yeah-" before he realized how that would sound.  
  
The man chuckled and looked down at the woman and smiled. "I feel ya man, she is cute..." He almost seemed to doubt himself with his voice but reach for her hand, bring it up to his mouth it he kissed the back of it.  
  
Sans heard his bones rattling with anger as the man was touching her. But a small hand hand took his and squeezed. Glancing at the woman she was wear a very fake smile and her eyes seemed to hollow out like she was mentally trying to not be there.  
  
Sensing tension the man let go of her hand by resting it on his own thigh. "Tiny little thing though, but you are quite pretty miss." He commented and placed a hand on her shoulder, rubbing the base of her neck.  
  
The woman turned to being almost robotically and smile, Sans couldn't see her lips but knew she was mouthing something to him. Most likely 'thanking' him for the compliment. The man seemed more comfortable with the silence now that he had a hand on the woman.  
  
But Sans felt increasingly more agitated but stuck to just holding the woman's other hand as she clutch his tightly. Keeping her entire being still and fake with only the hand that Sans was holding showing how she felt about this.  
  
The man would run his hand down her back for a moment before moving it back to his thigh were he had placed her hand earlier. Lightly rubbing her knuckles and feeling her boney fingers.  
  
"You two must have fun together, I'm sure losing that cabin won't stop you." He spoke finally. "The place you live normally pretty big?" He glanced at Sans with a smile and Sans glared back. The man looked amused that he was getting Sans worked up. Which pissed off Sans more.  
  
It took a moment as Sans realized he needed to reply but kinda just choose not too, sitting back in the chair TRYING to be comfortable. The man finally lets go of her hand as he needed to adjust the wipers when the rain picks up even more.  
  
Squeezing her other hand Sans urges her and she removes her own hand form the mans thigh. Resting it in her own lap and staring completely straight, still trying to mentally check out to what happened.  
  
"Man it's really coming down hard, betcha glad I picked you up huh?" The man spoke almost jokingly. Sans nodded and decided it was worth talking to him again now that he stopped weirdly touching the other.  
  
"Yeah we are glad to be out of the rain for sure." Sans spoke lazily and looked out the window, getting a bit excited seeing lights in the distance. The driver hummed no.  
  
"I know what your thinkin but-" Glancing down the driver tapped a GPS, it lit up having been dimmed to save energy. "But that's just a truck rest. You would just be back out on the street if you called for someone to pick you up there."  
  
The man would snake a hand back over to the woman's nape and rub. "Besides I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving a pretty little thing like you in the rain." He 'joked' for a moment and let her go after glancing at Sans. Once again taking enjoyment in his angered face.  
  
After the man backed off Sans looked over to the woman. She was... not there, mentally. Looking into her eyes it was like she just shut down. But her face was bright with a smile. Sans didn't realize in his own annoyance with the man only just how tightly her small hand was holding his, only when the man stopped touching her did she relaxed.  
  
Deciding he had enough Sans reached around the woman's back and pulled her closer to himself. "Hey." He spoke firmly. "Why don't you rest for a bit? I know you haven't slept since the landslide." He gave her the excuse to move slightly away from the man and she quickly took it. Finishing comfort being closer to Sans.  
  
The man gave out a huffed of a laugh and glanced at Sans for a second. "You two should both sleep-" he tapped the GPS again. "About three or four hours to the next real town depending on the rain." Looking out it was raining hard and the man most likely was driving slowly since he couldn't see very far in front of the truck.  
  
"I'll try." Sans lied, he knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep knowing the guy might get weird again. Turning off his eye lights it gave the illusion he had his eyes closed or something, depends on how much his man paid attention to him. Which hoped was very little since he was driving in bad weather.  
  
The driver would turn down the radio a bit so they could 'sleep' and thankfully keep to himself. But Sans did noticed his he kept his hand on his own tight where he made the woman touch him. Gently rubbing it for a while until he focused more so on driving.  
  
Lazily watching out the window Sans could barely tell that they were coming up on a town even with how bad the rain was,the upcoming lights gave him some hope-  
  
Suddenly the man was shaking the woman and she woke up with a horsed gasp. "Skeleton get the hell down." The man commanded and Sans didn't question it, he hit the floorboard of the trucks cabin. He went to drag the woman with him and the man held her arm. "She good, just got an anti-monster truck sitting at a checkpoint."  
  
Reaching behind the seat he tossed a large jacket at the woman. "Look asleep or barely awake." She did as told and moved herself so it looked like she was relaxing using the jacket as a blanket, making herself almost completely covered. As they pulled up Sans hide the best he could by shoving himself under the glove box and putting the two bags he took from the cabin in front of him. The woman would move her legs to cover the rest of him.  
  
Hearing the car window roll down Sans held his breath. "Whats up? GPS didn't say there was a toll here?" A flashlight danced around for a moment. "Just getting some reports of some monster and woman trying to force their way into a truck with an axe." The man paused for a uncomfortable amount of time before laughing.  
  
"Like... really? Someone with an Axe on the side of the road? What is this a movie?" The man outside grunted at the joke. "Who is that?" He flashed his light right at her face and the woman groaned pulling the hood of the jacket more over her face.  
  
The man put his hand in front of the light and spoke firmly. "Hey hey, my daughter is trying to sleep."  
  
"So what are you doing this far out anyway?"  
  
"What are you the police? We are just moving upstate, my job is transferring me."  
  
"Wife?"  
  
"Already flew up to get the apartment signed for." The driver spoke in a quickly increasingly annoyed voice.  
  
There was a grunt and Sans was sure the two were staring each other down for a moment. The flashlight would be turned off. "Go ahead."  
  
The window was rolled up and the man carefully drove out of there. Sans waited down on the floor for a while. "You can come back up now we are almost in town." As Sans moved back up the man continued. "So... an axe huh? Ya ditch it after trying the first few times with no luck?"  
  
Sans couldn't tell if the man was messing with them. "There is no axe-" He paused trying to think of something. "-but scared the hell out of a few people when they saw a skeleton popping out from the dark." He faked shrugged. "I can't suddenly not be a skeleton so not much I could do."  
  
The man laughed but Sans could tell the man thought something was off. "Well it scared the hell out of me, and you must have scared the shit out of the wrong person for those guys to have a check point." Sans nodded in agreement.  
  
Pulling up to a gas station Sans looked ready to get out. "Wait a second, are you sure?" The driver asked and Sans paused confused. "If they got a check point then the town might know about ya, it pretty small and the buzz would attract a lot of attention. They might come after you before your family comes for you."  
  
Sans froze thinking this over but the driver didn't give him the time to react. "Let me just get some gas, and I'll take you to the next town-" He tapped the GPS and played with it for a moment. "About six hours away." Sans looked so unsure, he didn't feel comfortable with this man but he was right. And he covered for Sans, and is trusting him with the axe thing.  
  
But was that enough? The man didn't give a whole lot of time for Sans to think it out as he gave the woman two twenty's. "Go in there and pretend to be my daughter, I want some sweet jerky and a bottle of ice coffee, black." The man looked down at Sans then back at the woman. And something for the both of you."  
  
She acted like she was holding gold and nodded but was nervous. She looked at Sans and stared. It took him a moment to realize she was waiting for his order. "I um- ...if they got a burrito or something?" She nodded and waited more. "I'll take a coffee as well?" She would assume the same as the other and went off into the store, wearing the large jacket she used as a blanket. The man left the cabin to fill up the gas and Sans... hid.  
  
He wasn't suppose to be here and if those guys came back around him just sitting in the cabin would cause trouble. She returned not long after the man finished refilling the tank. The two got settled into the car and closed the doors, the man glanced at Sans. "Comfortable?"  
  
He hear the man laugh and Sans grunted. "If they come by again while you wear outside and saw me-" The man nodded. "Yeah I get ya." He moved to the bag the woman brought and pulled out the bottle of iced coffee. "I've been looking forward to another coffee since this morning!" He excited gulped some and put it in the cup holder. The set his jerky in the other side of the holder with the bag open for easy picking.  
  
Sans watched as the woman pulled out a decently sized water bottle and held it between her legs. The car would start moving as she pulled out her second item, a lunchable with a cookie. The man glanced at the item and almost spat laughing. "I said pretend your my daughter doesn't mean get a little kid item, you look like you could have used a full meal girlie." She pouted and hid her third item, a candy bar.  
  
Once they got driving she started pulling out Sans' items. A cheap burrito that all gas stations have it seems. Sans was debating if it was the one or two dollar version when he noticed the woman was watching him carefully. "Thank you-" He nodded and tried not acting like his very cooking skills we insulted as he took a bite.  
  
It was about what Sans expected, but finally having something other than dried oats and dirty water was amazing and his pride could return back to hole it had been living in for like the past- He remember that he didn't know how long it had been. The gassing he endured made his memory so fuzzy that he didn't remember when the mission date was so he had no way of really getting a time of reference.  
  
He pulled out his own iced coffee as the woman finally started digging into her lunchable. After a few bites she turned to the man and hummed for his attention, mouthing a thank you when he glanced at her. He smiled brighter and reached over to rub her shoulder, Sans could tell she froze up being touched like that but was trying to not react.  
  
Still sitting on the floor Sans touched her leg and she seemed to calm. It did occur to him that it was strange she was fine with his touch. But then again he wasn't a strange man like the other was. She had already seen him at this worst and knew how he was about things.  
  
The man let her go after a few moments and went back to driving. Sans leaned against her legs from the floorboard and she rested against the door and window. The two finally fell asleep enough though it wasn't dark out yet, then again with the rain it was hard to tell.


	18. Radio Call

_"Breaking report, two individuals escaping local prison have been seen traveling down interstate XX by foot. Know weapons on them and are considered extremely dangerous. One is a skeleton type monster seen with an axe and to be assumed other weapons. Records show he had military training and multiple murders on record. Other is an anorexic woman know for drug use and drug trafficking. The two are believe to be baiting drivers with the woman before the other jumps the driver. If seen please distant yourself from them and call police. Repeat two dangerous individuals traveling down interstate XX-"_  
  
Sans woke up to a slamming noise, then it was dead quiet. Glancing around he noticed the man driving had his hand over the radio and panting slowly. As if someone just scared him and he was trying to calm down. The man was pale and gripped the steering wheel so tightly Sans could see his knuckles white.  
  
While Sans continued to play asleep but the woman made just enough noise to not be able to fake it in time. "Haha hey your up girlie." She nodded and rubbed her eyes not realizing the mans state.  
  
"So... got to ask. Why ARE you two out here in the middle of no where? I'm not buying the cabin landslide." She looked down trying to thinking of a way to asnwer, sometimes holding up her shaking hands but not able to convey her thoughts.  
  
"Hey skeleton, wake up." The man used a commanding voice and Sans 'woke up' from it. "Yeah...? Something up?" He feinted ignorance.  
  
The man seemed to think hard on his question. "Thinking it over man... Were you two REALLY just on vacation? Because neither of you look ... well enough to be doing this." He glanced over to the woman. "I mean she is cute but really? And I don't know monsters well but you dont look very well either."  
  
Sans wondered what spooked his man but it also had more time to think on their BS story. And looking at the man Sans figured any lie would be picked through for any holes in it. But Sans was also tired, either this man was going to help them the rest of the way to the town or they were walking in the rain.  
  
He figured he would just tell the truth. "Look I'll tell you everything... and even if you kick us out on the road right after. I just ask you don't report us, we really are running for our lives here. And we have no intention of hurting anyone."  
  
The man both seemed to relax and start nervously sweating. "Yeah so no, that doesn't really asnwer the question but I'll keep that in mind." He barely paused to breath. "Might as well just give me the 'axe' and anything else you got."  
  
Sans knew the man most likely meant figuratively but he was just too tired to play this game. The woman gave a worrying look when Sans reached into the bag and tossed the axe onto the car seat between the driver and the woman. The driver gasped and quickly grabbed it and moved it between himself and his door.  
  
"So- so the- was true?" He started freaking out and moving his foot over to the break. Sans gave the firmest command he could. Not panicked or anything just stern.  
  
"No. Whatever you heard isn't true." Sans sighed heavily. "We were dying at the hands of someone else and fucking ran. You can look at us and see we are barely still alive, all we just want to fucking get out of this alive." Still sitting on the floor board Sans adjusted to be more comfortable.  
  
"Kick us out if you like, keep the axe for all I care. I'm thankful you brought us this far, I can't blame you if you want to kick us out now." The woman leaned down to get Sans attention as she was concerned on what he was saying, for once Sans choose to ignore it as he waited for the car to stop.  
  
While it slowed for a moment it didn't stop, and the man kept his eyes forward. "I'm not taking you two further than the next town." Sans nodded and thanked him again.  
  
Looking up at the woman Sans placed his hand in hers. "Please just relax, nothing else we can do for now." He spoke in a calm voice and she shook a little while she calmed down. Distracting herself with what was left of her water bottle.  
  
It took a while for the man to speak up again, which Sans was fine with.  
  
The man took some deep breathes trying to work himself up to asking question. "So..." Sans grunted letting him know he was listening. "...they starved you two?" Sans nodded before agreeing out loud. "Yeah... That was part of it." He noticed the man glancing at the woman. "And her-?"  
  
Sans interrupted him. "Yeah... that is the reason her voice was damaged, she can't speak anymore." The woman started to looked upset and Sans held her hand a bit tighter. "I'll asnwer any questions about me but- she is still upset easily over it. I'd rather not have her in a crying fit bringing all that up."  
  
The man looked a little confused but roll with it as he glanced at her expression. "And you?" Sans knew he would continue. "Wasn't there super long but, gassed. Got beat up a quite a bit and chain down like some damned dog." He sighed and rubbed the crack on his head for effect. The man didn't know that he didn't get it from being imprisoned.  
  
The man started it understand everything a little more but was nervous. "Why? I mean I can see you two been through hell but not-" He paused to think. "Not everyday someone get tortured you know? We live in modern times."  
  
Sans sat up a little to see the man better but still staying on the floorboard. "There are groups that wouldn't mind taking a monster out for there own enjoyment." He explained then looked up at the woman. "Not sure why-" he paused as he moved her hands closer to hold herself, looking out the window. "She was there, her voice was gone long before I was forced there."  
  
"Tired having her write it?"  
  
"Do you really think we had pen and paper in there?"  
  
"...right."  
  
It would go quiet again after the man tapped the GPS.  
  
Looking at the clock it was well into the night when they drove up into the next town. At first the tired driver when towards a hotel but turned around for a gas station. "Hopefully they got a pay phone. Not a wise idea to have you going into somewhere to use a phone... And your not using mine."  
  
Sans nodded and tired to see out of the windows to where they were. Pulling to a stop Sans took the jacket the woman had been using as a blanket and put it on with the hood up, trying to cover as much of himself as possible.  
  
The driver would fish around for some change and give it to the woman to give to Sans. He nodded and before getting up looked straight at the man. "I'll find a way to thank you-" The man interrupt. "Don't, hopefully we never hear of each other again." Sans grunted but nodded. "And where exactly are we so I can tell my family."  
  
It only took a moment to look up with the GPS before showing it to Sans. "Make it quick, the girl can sit in the car."  
  
Sans had expected the man just to drop them off but if he was willing to wait then Sans wasn't going to argue. Darting from the truck through the rain and slamming the change into the payphone. It rang for the longest time as Sans bounced his foot nervously.  
  
It didn't pick up and he tired to not be angry. With the rest of the change he tried again. It rang for a long time and Sans sighed figuring it wasn't going to went when it did suddenly picked up.  
  
"....what." A dull harsh voice came from Papyrus. Sans gasped hearing his voice. "Papyrus!" He called in a desperate tone.  
  
Suddenly a lot of noise could be heard form the other end, almost like the Mutt fell or dropped the phone. "How?? Where???" He asked in a panic and Sans blurred out where he was, and what the gas station looked like and the truck that was near.  
  
Random button tapping was heard as Papyrus looked up where they were. At some point the phone went dead and he assumed he was hung up on by accident. Sighing it put the receiver back gently, now realizing he was shaking.  
  
Walking back over to the truck he popped his head in two see the woman awfully close to the man as he held one of her hands. Angrily he stared and the man let go. "Sooo..?" He asked and Sans did his best to be calm. "They are on there way, we can wait here if you want to head out. Thank you again."  
  
The man nodded. "How long?"  
  
Sans chuckled. "Not long, we will be fine."  
  
The man didn't seem to believe him since they were still mostly out in the middle of nowhere. "Well... I can wait for a bit so you two aren't in the rain forever. But-"  
  
He reached down and went to hand Sans back the axe. "I don't want to be caught with anything you two are doing so take it back, but I want the rest of your coffee skeleton."  
  
A little dumbfounded Sans stared at the man before chuckling. "Sure." The two exchanged the axe for coffee. Then they sat back down on the seat normally holding their packs in their hands. Sans was temped to dump them but just encase someone traced these back to the driver he didn't want to cause this man that kind of trouble.  
  
The man took back his jacket and chugged the rest of the coffee with a loud burp. "What they going to drive up in? Just so I know what to expect-?"  
  
Sans interrupted him. "He is here." He nodded and sounded so causal that it took the man by surprise.  
  
"Wait how?" The man looked out the windows of the car confused. Sans for thank him again and pull the woman out. In the dark and rain the man could see a very tall freaky looking skeleton walking around.  
  
When Sans had seen his brother from the window it was like his form was almost black from the shadows of night and rain. It searched back and forth looking for him. Quickly he dragged the woman along by the arm and they ran together. Sans slammed his own body into the other with a hug, his bones shaking. His mind crept back to the white fog and seeing his brother search for him, but being back to actually run towards him, to grab him. Felt like a nightmare was finally ending.

Wordless they embraced each other as the rain started getting into there clothes. Sans would finally speak up. "She is coming with us, get us out of here." Papyrus gave a concerned look to his brother with the desperate tone he used. But wasn't about to question it and grabbed the woman. All three were pulled into a welcoming void as they teleported. Sans knew he could explain once they had teleport miles and miles away from this damned place.

The driver watched from the car as the three greeted for a split second and quickly disappeared into the rain. Like they just vanished. Looking down at the empty coffee bottle from the skeleton he threw it down on the floorboard and started the car up quickly. "I need the hell out of here and some sleep fuck."


	19. -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Two has been started! I'll be keeping this chapter as a marker for the shift in the story as well as a thank you to my readers and commenters. Though any questions listed are now old.

Welcome to the end of Part 1! This is something I knew I wanted to make sure i completed before ever uploading it. While I do plan on continuing past the first 18 chapters it took about 2 months to finish these. And I dont want to leave something feeling overly cliffhangerie or incomplete. So I might not upload again until I have another set of chapter ready.  
  
But I do want to thank you all for reading! To all my early comments you help motivate me to finish loading this quickly rather than putting it off over the course of the week. So thank you so much for that as well as letting me know that this is a type of story you want to see finished.  
  
Originally this story was first brainstormed as a UF Papyrus POV and would have been a much darker, gritty story involving much more on screen rape and murder. But when I went and sat down to write it I changed it last second to FS Red Sans because I figured he would be more likely to grow on the human he was with than UF Paps. And from there the overall story seemed to tone down from there. But I'll save those gritty UF Pap ideas for a story way down the line.  
  
But dont worry, even though the two are far away from their captors that doesn't mean we are done! We still have things to explore like why this group did what they did to Sans, even more so the woman he was with. And just how Sans plans on moving forward from here, it's not like he can just go back to normal Captain of the Guard without going after them right?  
  
If anyone has input for thoughts and concerns moving forward please feel free to comment or message me! I also have a tumblr under the same name as this account. But here are a few things on my list of needing to be figured out before sitting down to write out the next section of this story.  
  
Sans urge for revenge over the safety of this woman.  
  
The lasting effect of a magic-suppressant.  
  
Who really is this woman?  
(Honestly this is the hardest one for me)  
  
Is she going to be able to recover?  
(second hardest)  
  
How Sans handles what has become of his reputation.  
  
But if you skip over these questions I just have one final one. Should we give her a name? Or keep it a blank self insert still?


	20. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for 500 hits! To the first few readers sorry I fixed that formatting.

_Sans felt something call to him, it pulsed with a warmth of family, of home. He could feel the presence thanking him. Opening his eyes he turned to see a flash of color in the void. But before he even realized it the moment was gone._  
  
The void of Papyrus' teleports was always a strange place. And you would only be within one for just a faction of a second, so it isn't like one could really examine it. But Sans knew for a fact that one second ago he was in the pouring rain and then in the second was standing in his house. His very messy house, looking around he could feel Papyrus getting nervous but only for the small moment could Sans be upset about it, the weight of days of exhaustion fell right back onto him that caused him to stop caring about the mess.  
  
Papyrus would be the first to speak up, his voice startling the woman. "Sans... how?" He seemed a loss for words and he could feel his brother looking up and down the two. Between their shabby put together clothes back towards their physical health, Sans could see that his brother was just perplexed. After glancing at his own house Sans turned back over to his brother and Papyrus stared back, his brother was unwashed and had a smell clinging to him. Maybe smoke? Alcohol? Whatever it was he smelled like misery had taken shape.  
  
Sans felt himself slumped down depressed. "I... we..." But quickly realized that words were escaping him, how could he describe what happened? Sure he did to that driver but to his own brother? Did he even want to retell what happened? To go through the pain of recounting all that happened to the one person that was there to protect him during that mission? He knew he needed too but right now?  
  
Everything felt like a roller coaster and looking up the room Sans saw that the room was turning slightly. Quickly he figured out that it was just because he was having a dizzy spell. Slowly he raised his hands to his head and tried to ground himself. "...Exhausted." He could feel a hand on his shoulder as his brother guided him to the old couch to sit him down. Sans choose to ignore whatever Papyrus pushed on the floor to make room for him. The woman stood awkwardly as she let the two have their moment.  
  
Calmly Papyrus rubbed his back and spoke softly. "Want me to get you anything? Hell I'll bring a doctor or if you give me a name a-" The taller skeleton was interrupted as Sans placed a hand on the taller skeletons shoulder. "Yes. Yes. Yes?" He tired to smile for a moment, then sighed. "Right now? I'm tired." Sans wondered why he felt like he was just about to fall over.  
  
Papyrus hovered over his brother as he watched him take a moment to think. Was it the teleport? He didn't feel this bad a moment ago... Looking back up maybe it was home? He was out, he wasn't running, he was free. Was this the stress of all those sleepless nights in the forest? He wasn't too sure and he didn't know what to do next. Finally Papyrus nudged him as he started to fall over almost passing out.  
  
"Hey... Sans." Papyrus nudged and waited for Sans to look up at him. "Do you just want to sleep for a while? We can talk about it later." Sans felt himself sigh heavily as he mentally debated just passing out right now. But something seemed off, like how he was finally breathing peacefully now that he was out that sinkhole of a place but- Was he really safe? How far was that place? Was he far enough? Would he be caught if he rested-?  
  
It dawned on him that these where the thought he had while running, he didn't need to do that anymore. He could finally- "Yeah. I'm going to sleep for a bit." Sans softly spoke to his brother and he could feel the other nod. "Here or your-?" Papyrus would try to ask but Sans interrupted him quickly. Something about sleeping in this mess sobered him a little.  
  
"My room." He commanded and tried to get up, but didn't fight when Papyrus picked up his smaller body. He could feel himself being carried a few steps before stopping. "And her?" His brother asked quietly, but not quiet enough so the woman heard it anyway.  
  
Sans glanced up to see his brother carefully staring her down, as if nervous of her presence or just suspicious. "With me." He manged to get out quickly as his brother gestured for the woman to follow. Sans couldn't see but assume that she did. Going up the stairs Sans realized just how effortlessly his brother carried him, how much strength was at the ready from the skeleton. He found himself jealous, if only he had his own strength back.  
  
Being placed down in a clean familiar bed was like heaven, he almost fell asleep just as his head hit the pillow. "...thanks." He spoke to his brother who grunt. "s'no problem."  
  
For a moment he laid before realizing there was an awkward exchange between the woman and his brother, as if both of them wanting for permission for something. After a moment the woman moved onto the bed and laid near Sans, while his brother watched in confusion. Papyrus left them to sleep as they passed out almost on top of each other, even more confused as he wondered. Just what happened to his brother to make him get this close to someone?  
  
_It was dark, but comfortable. He felt his body cushioned and held. Someone was holding him? Opening his eyes-_ he didn't feel scared at the hands on him. Quickly realizing it was the woman next to him. And it was just the room dark, but a little bit of light came through the crack under the door to his room. It was strange to him, looking at the dark room. This world was nothing like the one bright room he use to be in and now everything felt like it was in reverse.  
  
He didn't know if this all felt fake or if everything that happened felt like a dream.  
  
Sans continued to lay there and moved his hand over to the woman's head to play with her hair. She was still asleep and while he did have a feeling that he should wake her up, he didn't know why. They were home and she could now get all the sleep that she needed. It made him wonder if he should get more sleep? Yes, but felt to anxious to do so.  
  
He pondered for a while. Knowing he needed to tell his brother, the queen, the guard. Depends on how far the news of him being captured spread he would need to tell a lot of monsters about his failings. There was also the concern if they were still looking for him, or hunting other monsters. Did they already have other monsters captured? Besides his brother Sans didn't care enough to check before running from that place. Sans also knew that he would also need to try and recover quickly, not wanting to risk being found again at all. But with the two of them being so weak made it much greater of a concern.  
  
Maybe he shouldn't come out as escaped yet? Could he hide and make those bastards think he was still on the run? But then again they would try to use his 'death' against the Queen and Guard. So he would have to tell them no matter what and soon. But then those bastards  would find out since the Queen would ignore their threats? If she had not been ignoring them already, Sans realized he needed a lot more information first.  
  
While Sans was lost in thought he noticed how her scalp was a little damp. Moving his hand down he could feel that sweat had built up on her forehead but she was cold to the touch. Leaning up in bed he looked over her, having to admit to himself that he was just getting use to her looking sickly. But no matter how much he was use to this being her normal Sans told himself that he couldn't just ignore it. Knowing he needed to get her to a doctor, hell he needed one as well. With his magic still not come back yet something was wrong.  
  
Well it wasn't something, he KNEW what was wrong. He just needed help fixing it.  
  
Two eyes glanced up and Sans knew that he shouldn't have been surprised that touching all over her face would wake the woman up. Her eyes looked glazed over and hallow, unable to focus for a few moments. Sans kept his hand on her cheek as he tired to nudge her slowly awake. Not sure if that was a good idea but knew that sleeping in a cold sweat wasn't either. He gave her a pained look not sure what to do.  
  
She would need rest, food, and water but most importantly she needed a doctor. But Sans had this nagging feeling, would a doctor be safe? He wasn't too sure why he was nervous about that. Maybe the doctors were with the group? Doubtful. Was it suspicious for monsters to bring in a critically ill woman? Yes. He could explain but-  
  
Then those bastards would know where they were right? I mean he just assumed the news would get out if they went to a hospital. Maybe a private doctor? That could work but he didn't know any, let alone any that he trusted. And any humans he knew and trusted like Chara wouldn't have any reason to have private doctors. Maybe Asgore could do something but, looking down at her this was past a simple healing session. The woman would give him a concerned stare and Sans realized the stress must have been showing on his face as the woman reached up and cupped his cheek like he was doing to her.  
  
They stared at each other for a moment before Sans sat them both up. She would lean on him weakly and breath roughly. The air heating up his ribs and he took a moment to feel it. "Hey..." He tried speaking but found words beginning to slip his tongue again.  
  
She let out a small raspy hum in reply which brought Sans back to what needed to be done. "You need- we both need help. I need to see a magic specialist and you a doctor." She slumped down at the mention of a doctor, he could only assume it was because she didn't like them or something. It was hard to tell.  
  
Putting his hands around her Sans tried to comfort her. "We are going to be alright, we just need to focus on getting better." At least she needed to focus on that, him on the other hand. "Do you have anyone to contact now that your out of there? I don't want those bastards tracking us down but if you have some family maybe we could-" Sans paused.  
  
He wasn't prepared for her to break down shaking and desperately holding onto him. Quickly she slumped down into his lap and he didn't know what else to do but just hold onto her and comfort her. "...it's ok, it's ok." He spoke softly but he wasn't sure that it was, what had set her off. Was it really just asking about family? What happened to them? Maybe it was because he mentioned that those bastards might still be chasing them? Did that set her off? "...it's ok." He continued until she lay limp. Once she was mostly calm again he raised her back up to a sitting position, but her head fell forward and she raised a hand to hold it. It reminded him of when she held him up.  
  
_The void he leaned on for support when surrounded by fog._  
  
Sans tensed up for a moment as a memory echoed. As if he was  still there, as if he was living it now. It didn't feel like a hallucination but he wasn't sure what else to call it. Pushing the feeling aside he moved off the bed slowly and would try to help guide her off as well. But her move moved at a snails pace like each movement was weighted down. Gently he picked up the woman and while she wasn't too heavy it was enough to make him realized again just how weak he was. But he could do this at least.  
  
Walking out of his room and down the stairs with her in his arms Sans quickly noticed that they were home alone. A chill went down his spine as he wondered where Papyrus was. Would he really just leave the two of them alone after they just got here? Was something wrong? Walking over to the kitchen he placed the woman down at the table in a chair before looking around the kitchen.  
  
It was a complete mess like a hoarder was living here, and what wasn't dirty was broken. Turning he went to use the kitchen phone. To call his brother? To call a doctor? He couldn't remember once he noticed how the phone was ripped out of the wall. He stared at it dumbfounded trying to figure out why even the wall around where the phone use to be was mangled.  
  
_He could just see how his brother would react, destroying the closest thing to him._  
  
Sans wondered how many times Papyrus was called and harassed by those bastards. Personally he was a bit relived that he had enough sense to call his brothers cellphone back at the payphone yesterday. Wasn't like he would have picked up if he tried the house number. Sighing he turned back to the woman and noticed how she had slumped down on the table. Letting her head rest on her arms on the tabletop.  
  
Strolling to the fridge he realized that when opening it that the whole thing had been pulled out just enough to come unplugged. Which caused everything in it to be at that weird not cold enough not hot enough temperature and causing everything inside to spoil. He let out a defeated chuckle loudly. Not like it was the first time recently he was left wondering if something was safe to eat or not. Closing the door he didn't have the energy to try and plug that damn thing back in.  
  
Pulling two cups out of the cabinets Sans moved to the sink but he had to push dirty dishes out of the way just to use the faucet for water. Sans was about to blow up angrily as nothing drained but after a few seconds the water finally started to flow. Meaning either something had been damaged along the pipes or this was just the last of the water after getting shut off. Sans found himself just adding more and more things to the mental list of 'work on later' but decided it would be best to keep ignoring them for now. He watched as the two cups were slowly filled with water and  wondering what else had happened to the house while he was gone.  
  
Carrying the two cups to the table Sans just pushed the empty Muffet's boxes to ground to make room. Everything around him was a huge stressful mess and he just wanted to ignore it. Sans sipped on the water for a moment thinking. His brother is normally messy but this is a new extreme. He had hoped... he would talk to someone about this. Or at least one of his 'friends' come by to help him out. Thinking back to it though, Undyne and Alphys would be the only ones to really come over. And he KNEW how messy Undyne could be. That made him debated if he was the only monster in the kingdom that knew how to keep a damned house clean.  
  
But he couldn't bring himself to be upset about it, thinking back to the fear he had over his own brother being captured. He could only imagine what Papyrus felt coming back her alone after that mission. Just how long did it take him to start destroying the damned house?  
  
Sans realized it didn't matter.  
  
Looking down the woman was just now starting to sip on the water, she looked exhausted for sure. The cold sweats she was going thru didn't seem to stop, but really the most concerning thing was her pale complexion. It only took a few moments of looking over her to make himself commit to getting up but first- "I want to take you to a hospital. Are you... ok with that?" He asked, a bit nervous because of how she reacted earlier. But she would nod her head slowly. "Alright... I'm going to get my brother and we can take you." Sans spoke softly and chugged the rest of his water. Standing up was strenuous but he didn't want to complain. He also felt a little nervous leaving her in the kitchen but getting her up and drinking water was most likely the best thing she could do right now. At least he hoped so.  
  
Walking through the house he didn't know where to start looking but, found himself compelled to head towards the front door. Remembering that his brother would smoke outside when he was home. Hovering his hand over the doorknob Sans froze, something was missing wasn't it? He needed to get out but where was the keypad? Moving his claws to the wood he traced a pattern, four numbers. Then grabbed the lock, moving it back and forth to lock and unlock it again. He paused, why did he do that?  
  
_He could feel his soul pounding as he entered the four numbers that were burned into his mind. A hand nearby was shaking so violently that they couldn't even push the key in to unlock the damned door. Grabbing a hold of them he forced it steady, throwing the room open he ran-_  
  
Sans paused as after realizing he just ran a couple steps out of his front door. His brother looked shocked and almost dropped his cigarette when seeing him start to run. Snapping back around Sans stared at Papyrus with mixed emotions, none that he could even really place. Stomping back over to his brother he ripped the cigarette from his boney hand and plopped himself down on the doorstep next to Papyrus.  
  
Shaking and holding his head Sans started to smoke the last bits of the cigarette. Still standing Papyrus watched his brother wordlessly for a moment before lighting up another cigarette. After a few slow puffs he sat down next to his brother.  
  
Sans lifted his head from his hand and flicked the spend cigarette down the walkway, finally noticing just how many buds were littered across it. Glancing back at his brother he quickly plucked the newly lit one from his hands and started smoking it as well. Shocked at first Papyrus gave out a small laugh before just pulling the last one from his pack and lighting it for himself. Tossing the empty box somewhere out onto the lawn.  
  
Sans held himself with one hand and use the other to smoke. He wasn't sure what came over him, was it a some sort of distress but for what reason? Shaking he would struggle to calm his breathing until he left his brother snaked an arm around his back to the other shoulder. Forcing Sans to lean on him in a sort of sideways hug. He felt like crying and his face must have showed it because his brother hummed and rubbed his shoulder. Calming repeating between drags of his cigarette. "It's ok. It's going to be ok now."  
  
Sans wasn't prepared for the emotion what could come from finally hearing someone say that, and to him no less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Papyrus: Watches his brother burst out of front door only to be confused over where he was then instantly start smoking. "Ok weird, but also mood."))


	21. Magic Boost

Sans closed his eyes not wanting to look at the white smoke coming off the cigarettes and waiting until they both were very much done before opening his eyes again. First thing he could see when he opened his eyes was both his and Papyrus' laps as they sat on the doorstep to their house. Sans could feel his brothers arm reaching across his back holding him against himself. Looking up Sans spotted a face twisted with concern and guilt on his brother, while he looked out into the distance. Papyrus quickly noticed he was being stared at and looked down at Sans. "Calmed down?" He asked gently and Sans sighed heavily and gave a small nod. But he barely moved. There would be a moment of silence between them.  
  
_Sans listened to the whirl of the camera on auto._  
  
Snapping up Papyrus quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket, it was vibrating loudly in his boney hand. Sans watched him read something before realizing that right there was a phone. And that is why he came out here in the first place. "We need to call someone for help." Sans spoke and Papyrus looked confused for a moment. He started texting as he was talking.  
  
"Already did that." He confirmed quickly.  
  
"Who??" Sans felt a panic rise in him.  
  
"Undyne is on there way." He spoke calmly and finished his text.  
  
A panicked thought raced through his mind. Undyne was the type of monster to post everything over UnderNet.  He just wanted to stay hidden for a while to recover how was he suppose to do that now? Also how was she going to help anyway?  
  
Sans shook his head. "Papyrus we need to call a hospital or doctor, how is Undyne going to help?" He pouted and started to move from his brothers grip, Papyrus looked confused for a moment before getting stern. "Trust me she has been working with some new tech-" Sans would interrupt his brother. "But we still need to call a hospital for her-" Papyrus took his turn interrupting Sans now. "Yeah we can call something for the human but I called Undyne for YOU Sans."  
  
Sans repeated himself. "How is she going to help? Help with what, my magic?" He was confused because he had not told his brother about anything yet. Papyrus was getting even more confused before a thought hit him. "Right. A lot has happened since you disappeared." he sighed and have Sans shoulder a rough rub. "A lot more monsters have been attacked, and from what they told us-" He watched his brother try to contain some anger. "They were using that damned bio-weapon on you? Undyne has been working with the guard to try and help lessen the effects. That bull has already dusted a few monsters."  
  
Sans listened carefully as his brother explained, trying hard to grasp the information. Realizing they were using him to figure out how much did what to a monster. Papyrus saw the mixed reaction of shock and confusion on his brothers face and waited. But looked up as a car stopped in front of the house.  
  
Sans still had not recovered from what his brother said as Alphys ran down the walkway to the house. Suddenly stopping as she slammed into the front door that he was in front of with her head, causing a loud bang. Staring down she grabbed both the skeleton's arms and pinned him to the door. "YOUR ALIVE!" He could see her large lizard tail wagging back and forth behind her. Sans felt like he couldn't breath. He was being pinned down, he was-  
  
"You look like shit!" Alphys said bluntly and let go of him. Which Sans took a large gasp for air and pushed himself against the door as much as possible to get away from the giant lizard. Looking over her now he remembered how she just as towered over like before, but with a new little mask over her gnarly mouth. It must have been a gift from Undyne as it had a 'kawaii' cat mouth printed on it. The absurdity of her rough and scaly lizard body plus the mask distracted him just enough to calm down.  
  
But he couldn't get in any words as Alphys started to open the door and walk in. Papyrus shot up as he went to grab Alphys. "Wait!" The lizard ignored Papyrus and talked as she entered the house. "Lets get you hooked up before you dust or... something..." Sans saw Alphys freeze looking in the doorway. A horrible feeling washed over him and he could only watch as Alphys tail snapped against the ground before she lunged inside the house. Her feet kicking up the doormat which hit Undyne as she was walking up.  
  
Time seemed to slow.  
  
An chocked scream echo out of the doorway that was just barely louder than Alphys deep and thunderous growl. Sans felt his eyelights shrink in shock and confusion as his mind processed who the scream came from. Quickly Sans shouted the lizards name but it was too late. Papyrus swearing loudly as he missed grabbing Alphys first try and dashed into the house after her to try and grab the lizard again.  
  
In a flash Papyrus and Alphys were gone.  
  
Scrapping himself from the ground Sans dashed in the house to find the woman in the entrance way. Her blood splattered across the floor and wall next to her as it stained her cabin outfit. Racing over to her Sans started to rip away the clothes to see the full damage, he could feel himself hyperventilating. Suddenly he heard the snap of a camera and briefly saw the flash. Looking up he-  
  
_He saw the clipboard man straighten as he looked over the photo on his phone._  
  
Undyne leaned back up as she hummed happily while playing with the photo on her phone. Sans stared horrified for a moment before remembering she was just a freak who damn near had a fetish for human horror and blood. He could remember finding her with hordes of slasher movies saying that she just couldn't help herself collecting them. Rage build up his in soul as he held the shaking woman.  
  
"UNDYNE FUCKING HELP HER!" He screamed out which took the fish monster by surprise and she put down her phone. "Not like she is going to die, trust me." She brushed it off while setting down a suitcase of supplies. Inside had a portable machine that Sans had never seen before as well as some basic first aid supplies. "Alphys has been attacking almost every random human since you disappeared. It's normal by this point." The fish spoke calmly as she leaned in towards the human.  
  
Sans could feel the woman shake violently at the fish monster approach and he couldn't blame her. First Alphys had attacked her and now this one chuckling and taking pictures over her bloodily body? Yeah if Sans wasn't so angry he would be scared but then again he was just so use to how the scaly couple were. Trying to calm himself he held her and spoke quietly. "It's going to be ok, she is going to help-"  
  
The the flash of another photo being taken passed his vision. If Sans had any magic to use in his bones he would kill Undyne right now. Glaring up at her with a face that could kill Undyne had snapped a third photo. "Im sorry! I just! You two are so cute- It's like the tragic plot romance right now!" Undyne froze as Sans  reached up and smacked the phone so hard from her hand that it bounce off the ground and into a side table. He hoped it fucking broke.  
  
Undyne looked so shocked like he just crossed a line or something. Sans would rip the bandages from her other hand and sit the woman up so he could help her. Trying to bandage the wound from Alphys so it wouldn't bleed out too much. After a moment Undyne seemed to soften over how 'cute' the two looked, standing up she hauled the suitcase over to the couch. Placing it down she pulled the portable machine from it and started attaching various wires to it and making sure it was operational. Once Undyne finished she huffed happily and turned back to Sans and the Human. "All good to go for when your brother gets back! Oh I forgot to say Hi by the way." She smiled and watched Sans deal with the bloodied mess.  
  
Sans didn't turn to look at her as he focused on the woman. She was in pain and dizzy but Undyne was right, she wasn't going to die. But with her extremely poor health, his soul still raced in a panic at the idea of her just bleeding out. "Go Die." He replied to the fish as he finished up bandaging the woman. Undyne just giggled and made herself comfortable on the couch waiting. The woman shook and clenched onto Sans desperately as she wasn't able to calm herself.  
  
A small warping noise appeared behind Sans and he realized that his brother returned. Looking up his clothes were disheveled and it looked like he had rolled in the dirt. Papyrus glared over to the happy and comfortable fish. "Undyne when I said not tell Alphys I had a damn reason for it." Papyrus spoke in a pissed off tone. Undyne properly sat up trying to look cute. "I know I know but we were cuddling and she read my text before I could stop her! Besides you didn't tell me Sans had a little human pet!" She hummed to herself and looked at the little couple on the floor. "I honestly thought if Sans came back alive he would be like Alphys and want to kill every human. It's cute though!" She tried to reason and the two skeletons brothers just stared at her in disbelief.  
  
Undyne stammered with all the attention on her. "W-well! W-we sh-should get this st-started!" She would stand back up off the couch and give room for all of them. Papyrus looked over at her and then at his brother, then back again. "I already know Sans isn't going to want the human to leave the room so don't be weird-" Undyne raised a finger. "Oh don't worry I already tried! My phone was the unlucky sacrifice to that... God I hope you didn't break it Sans." She turned to the shorter skeleton who was just speechless and confused. He held onto the woman just as much as she held onto him. Papyrus looked conflicted for a moment before sighing. Turning to the two on the floor he moved to pick them both up at the same time.  
  
Sans resisted and growled at his brother. "SHE needs a damned doctor, why the hell aren't we taking her now??" He demanded and papyrus looked over the woman for a moment then to Sans. "Look this doesn't take long she isn't going to die in the next thirty minutes, and do you even realized how important this is Sans? You need this as soon as we can get it started, your magic is everything you are, it can't wait."  
  
He was confused. How did his brother know about his magic being gone anyway? Did the group tell him? Why was he being so pushy about it? He hasn't dusted yet so why is he acting like this? Papyrus looked over to the woman with a murderous glare. "Tell Sans your going to be ok for a goddamn minute. Because I'm not about to risk my brothers life just waiting for some damned human."  
  
Sans snapped back. "You damned Mutt! How dare you! Are you even LOOKING at her?? She needs-" The woman would bring a hand to his mouth just long enough to silence him. Paniced he looked back over to the woman. She wore a pained, fake smile. He could tell she wanted to say something but didn't have the voice to do so. Soon the woman would look back to Papyrus and nod. Sans wasn't happy that she was just threatened into agreeing and turned back to his brother.  
  
Papyrus leaned in closer to Sans with a pissed off look. "Look she is agreeing, this isn't going to take long. Then we can get her the best goddamn care of whatever. But I'm serious, lets just do this real quick." His brother was so stern in his voice it made him doubt himself and wonder if he really was that bad off. Papyrus questioned the woman if she agreed and nodded. Sans would just quiet down and Papyrus leaned in to pick them both up.  
  
The woman flinched in pain and let out a small gasp like she was going to protest but didn't physically struggle. And Papyrus would try be as gentle as possible while moving them. Setting them down on the couch with Sans in the middle and himself and the woman on each end. Undyne moved in quickly and started attaching something to Papyrus. Sans backed away a little watching this as he got a bad feeling in his soul. "What the hell is this thing anyway??" Papyrus was starting to zone out until his brother spoke up, and with Undyne reaching into his rib cage he started to fidget lightly. "You didn't tell him yet?" Papyrus asked the fish.  
  
Undyne's eyes lit up as she dropped the cord and brought her hands up to her face to dramatically gasp. "THAT RIGHT I DIDN'T!" She turned to Sans and watched as him and the human as they were holding each other in what looked like fear. "So this is my latest model of Magic Boosters! With the magic suppressants being used and testing happening I started making a way to rekindle the magical flow in a monster." She explained proudly and the fish moved a hand to Papyrus. "With the help of a second monster- magic is transferred soul to soul as a boost! Doesn't cure it, we haven't found one for that yet but at least it seems  to keep the monster from dusting from being without access to their magic."  
  
Papyrus would forcibly zone out as Undyne went back to setting up the machine, which the first set cords were hooked up as Undyne brought out his soul. All this was just a weird foreign concept to Sans, but if his brother was going along with it then maybe it was ok? "There we go, got your brother set up! I have found out through testing this works best with similar types of monsters. Like me, Shyren and Aaron are all matches. The dog squad are matches, and you and Papyrus are perfect matches, hell your related so there should be no rejection."  
  
Sans flinched as the fish moved to lift up Sans' shirt. "Rejection? What do you-?"  
  
"Don't worry about it." Undyne happy interrupted and forcibly pulled out his soul with her magic. But  she froze in place doing so. "How...?"  
  
  
Sans felt hallow, like the last part of him was taken. Like someone _just struck the final blow._  
  
  
It took a moment for Sans to wake back up. His soul had been returned to his body and his brother was hovering over him while shaking him. Sans could hear his brother calling out his name.  
  
Undyne had backed away in a panic. Repeatedly babbling about not knowing. Soon Sans could start to really make out what she was saying. "It-it's ok! I-I ca-can work-k wit-with this-s!" She would unhook the cord and reattach a hose to the machine. "Oth-other monsters some-times can't-n't have their sou-souls out e-either!" Reaching over she held something in her hand bring it closer to his face. "We can just-st have you absorb the en-energy through this!"  
  
"H-hold Still!" She reached out with a mask.  
_"Don't fight it" He reached out with a mask._  
  
Sans screamed.  
  
A hand would come out from the side of Sans and grab Undyne's wrist with a shaking and weak grip. The woman held the Undyne's arm without letting it get any closer, but Undyne knew she could easily push through but-  
  
The other two monsters in the room stared in shock at Sans, confused by his reaction. After a moment Papyrus pushed Undyne away from the two. "Lets give it a rest for a minute Undyne." He nervously spoke and pulled the wires out of his own rib cage. Letting out a sigh of relief once they were disconnected from his soul.  
  
Undyne backed up and stood frozen and stared before sitting down on the table with her machine. "Yeah..." After a moment she would pull out a clipboard and paper from her suitcase, quickly taking notes as her pen tapped against the surface loudly. "Just how much was he exposed too damped his magic- his soul that much?" She spoke under her breath. "Every other monster had dusted before getting to that point but-" She looked back at Sans for a moment, now quite able to tell if he was having a panic attack or not.  
  
She went back to writing down notes uncaring about his current reaction. "Maybe multiple controlled doses?" She would hum in thought. "But humans don't-" She wrote a few more notes down as the woman held Sans. He would be covering his mouth as if protecting it and shaking, curled into a half ball on the couch between the human and his brother.  
  
"...no way for them to directly inject to his soul right?" She glanced over to the oxygen mask she rigged to the machine. "Ah. That way." She would spend a descent amount of timing scratching notes down on paper while holding her clipboard in her lap.  
  
The woman watched Undyne with some sort of horrified expression which Undyne didn't quite understand but was assumed by her face. But as the human started to try and stand with Sans, maybe to move him away Undyne paused and pointed at her.  
  
"You shouldn't be touching him during a panic attack-"  
_"Told you not to touch the monster whore!"_  
  
Undyne placed down her clipboard on her lap and held up her hands in defeat as now the both of them started to freak out. Calmly the fish just stared at them having seen plenty of these before but not really caring.  
  
"Undyne!" Papyrus would scold her and she just turned to the taller skeleton. "Look I don't know what I'm doing to freak them now out so don't blame me." She reasoned before turning back to the two, finding herself unable to not stare at them as they clung to each other having panic attacks.  
  
Papyrus huffed and grabbed the two before teleporting up to Sans' room. It was an awkward teleport and the three kinda left onto the bed together. Sans noticed while clinging to his brother that the woman did the same, but she didn't seem aware enough. Sans felt his brother sigh deeply, most likely realizing just how messed up the both of them were.  
  
The three sat in dark of Sans' room for a while. Sans was happy his brother didn't try questioning them while they slowly worked their way to calming down. Though he would find himself annoyed as his brother kept getting text messages. Soon the woman would let go of his brother and lie on a side that was more comfortable for her. The woman's skin still twitched and spazzed randomly around the claw marks from Alphys.  
  
The taller skeleton pet the woman's head for a second before looking to Sans. "Undyne wants to know-"  
Sans interrupted him. "So her phone didn't break?" He asked but was disappointed that he already knew the asnwer.  
  
Papyrus chuckled. "No it didn't sadly. Anyway she wants to know if you want to try one more thing. I guess with a needle into an open bone? Like the scar on your face she says. She would come up here and ask but didn't want to freak you out again." He would put away his phone and watch Sans.  
  
He lifted a hand to his face, tracing down the 'scar' he had over his eye. But he and everyone that looked at it knew it was just a big fucking crack right in his face. Sighing he debated it for a moment. "What is this suppose to do really?" He would ask his brother in an annoyed tone.  
  
Thinking back Papyrus took a moment before explaining. "From what Undyne has been telling me it is suppose to implant someone else's magic into you for your soul to build off of.  Like your current magic is just buried under all the magic-suppressant so you can't access it or grow more. But with this you... grow off of the donated piece? The goal is to gather enough to overcome the dust."  
  
Sans hummed in thought for a second. "Dust?"  
  
Papyrus nodded. "You only saw it back when they were tested and used it as a gas right? They have also tried just dumping large amounts on a single monster in a powered form. It worked so well that the poor bastard's soul couldn't access enough magic to keep his body stable." Papyrus would bring a hand to his face and stressfully rub between his eyes. "Hear from Alphys that their soul stuck around for a moment like a boss monster's would just trying to maintain their form before they just straight up dusted." Moving his hand his brother gave Sans a pained and guilty look. "Had to start wearing something like a full hazmat suit when trying to find you..." Sans froze thinking about how after knowing how a monster was just dusted by being splashed with the damned stuff they dusted, his brother was still looking for him so close to danger. "You damned Mutt. Just following me around no matter-"  
  
Papyrus would interrupt him. "...yeah."  
  
Sans sighed as he felt stressed, he remember once feeling cocky over that fact his brother would chase him to hell and back but now that it basically happened? It wasn't a great feeling. Softly Papyrus would place a hand on Sans shoulder. "Don't worry about it, your back now." He would give Sans a small smile. Sans tried to smile back but he felt too full of mixed emotions to really reply. Taking a moment Papyrus looked at a new message on his phone and sighing. "Well anyway... did you want to try that now? I know from... what those bastards sent me that you were exposed to a lot of it." His brother asked and Sans just imagine how sticking a needle into his bone would feel. A thought that caused a shiver to go down his spine.  
  
"I..." Sans paused for a moment. "...didn't Undyne say that this machine was used to keep monsters from dusting? I'm not about to dust so... I just might skip it for a moment. I might try later but... I just got out of there, I just got home you know?" Looking around Sans lets his eyes fall on the woman, she had been laying on her good side this whole time. Just dealing with the pain of being attacked by Alphys without complaint.  
  
Papyrus sighed a little annoyed. "It's going to take a long time to recover without this, you passed out earlier went Undyne went to pulled your soul out but your soul looks so close to shattering from that crap. Honestly i think that we shouldn't wait Sans, that's why I called Undyne over in the first place." Sans would feel his brothers hand tighten on his shoulder and move him a little to force him to look at his brother. "If you really want to wait just to get comfortable fine, but if this is about this human then stop it. I can just dump her at any Emergency Room and she will be fine. But we need to focus on YOU Sans. I'm serious." The woman started to curl up a little trying to be small as she listened.  
  
Grabbing his brother arm Sans would try to shove him off but Papyrus' grip held firm. Pissed off Sans tried punching his brother but there wasn't any strength behind it. "Papyrus! I'm not the one about to die she is!" He would use both hands to motion at the woman. She would lift up with a guilty look as she cried, not wanting to be the cause of this fighting and tried backing away in pain.  
  
Seeing a flash of magic Papyrus' eyes glowed at him. "Fine, I'll be back in a minute." Grabbing onto his brother Sans tried to hold him back, but was easily shoved off like a little kid. The taller skeleton would roughly grab the woman's arm and within a blink of an eye the two were gone. Sans sat there for a moment still with his hand reaching out for them.  
  
"PAPYRUS!!" He screamed out and slammed his hands on the bed. Energized by fear and anger Sans dashed up from the bed and busted through his bedroom door. Looking over the railing Undyne was still sitting on the table with her machine but on her phone. "Hey what happened-?" She would get a text and chuckle. "Oh that's too funny."  
  
Annoyed Sans slammed his fist down on the railing, normally he could break the railing but this time didn't do any damage but only made his hand throbbed. "CALL PAPYRUS AND TELL HIM TO BRING HER BACK!" He screamed at her and Undyne looked up from her phone assumed. "No can do Sansie." And went back to ignoring him. "Then I'll call him myself give me your damned phone!" Sans called out as he raised himself over the railing on one foot. Dropping down like he had down thousands of times his guard training taught him out to land-  
  
He fell to the bottom level in a crumbled mess of bones. The world spun for a second as he couldn't figure out what just hit him. How did he just mess up the easiest landing ever?? Slapping his hands on the ground he tried getting up, nothing felt broken but shook like a leaf from the pain of such a bad landing. He didn't realize Undyne had gotten up let alone standing in front of him. "Jeez you are a mess." A foot came down and forced Sans down to the ground.  
  
_A foot came down as it repeatedly kicked him, the echo of someone laughing continued._  
  
Sans eye lights went out as he struggled under Undyne's foot. "s-stop, Stop, STOP!" He called out and Undyne sighed. "Really? I can't do anything without setting you off?" She complained but Sans could barely hear her as he couldn't calm himself down. Reaching out he would start digging his claws into the carpet and tearing pieces off.  
  
Her foot moved off him for a moment and Sans felt like he could breath again- Then she sat on him. "Hysteria or not your brother doesn't want you going anywhere until he is back." She would lift her phone and take some sort of selfie. "Alphys is going to get a kick out of this." She hummed and Sans held his head as it throbbed. Trying to figure out why he couldn't calm down. He really started to  wonder how much longer he was going to continue to be like this? Sans had had plenty of worst things happen before so why did this affect him so bad?? Was the suppressant really messing with him that much?  
  
Thinking back to it, wasn't he on the verge of hallucinations almost everyday while in there? What else about him was warped during his capture? His thoughts would be interrupted by his brothers voice. "Undyne really? He can barely fight off a fly. Did you really need to sit on him?"  
  
The fish would hold up her phone to the taller skeleton to show him the photo. "Yeah maybe not but look at this cool selfie I got with your brother! I think this makes the thrid one I've snuck him into." She seemed proud of herself.  
  
Sans on the other hand was about to fucking lose it. "PAPYRUS!! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER??" He screamed. "WHERE IS SHE?" Thrashing around Undyne didn't move and just stared at Papyrus with a 'told you so' look. "How DARE you do that??! What if something HAPPENS! What if they FIND HER?!? She CAN'T go through that AGAIN!"  
  
His brother sighed not fully understanding what Sans meant. "She is getting the help she needs calm down-" Sans would interrupt him. "But what if they FIND HER PAPYRUS?? THEN WHAT?!" His brother would shift and quickly grab his brother as Undyne moved on him. After a short wrestle he was able to pin Sans head down  with one hand and the other holding an arm behind his back.  
  
Sans started hyperventilating again.  
  
_He could feel his body being forcibly moved as he struggled uselessly again the shadows. His bones being twisted back as if he was strapped down on display, the shadow taunted from above him as he was beat down. A chocking fog was poured over him as he started to drown in it. Every breath he tried to take would just be him swallowing more of the fog._  
  
"Undyne you said he might have some Hysteria but this is excessive-"  
"Papyrus you saw his soul, I'm surprised he hasn't dusted already. We really should have expected these symptoms sooner."  
  
_Glancing up he could see what looked like his brother, it wasn't a shadow but he could only the dark silhouette of him. His brother hand would reach for his head and turn it. Something was carefully shoved into the scar over his eye by another set of hands. He felt himself struggle but  it felt like giants were holding him down. Shaking violently he called out for help._  
  
"Just try to keep him steady, even just a little will  help Papyrus."  
  
_Suddenly he would feel a rush of some foreign energy into his eye, instantly he became blind in that eye. Just dark, just a **void** of what it use to be. Next he couldn't feel half of his skull, like it just disappeared in a wash of pain._  
  
"SANS HOLD STILL!"  
  
_He felt something scream, or was it him screaming? Something snaked it's way down his neck and into his rib cage. Out of his one usable eye Sans could see a light shine for a moment, it was the glow of his own soul._  
  
_Something had given him strength, suddenly he had the strength to pull his arms free, reaching for his ribs he tried ripping out the thing trying to take over his soul. But he couldn't, it wasn't just free floating in his rib cage, it became his rib cage. The thing he was trying to rip out started to become everything that he was._  
  
_It- he would reach for the soul. Almost soft in it's approach, it was him. But-_  
  
"SANS!!"  
  
_His soul rejected it._  
  


  
  
_The crackle of a magical explosion filled the air._  
  
  



	22. Guardship

_Waking up all he could see was the dark void but without any sort of pull against him. Nothing was trying to force him down or pull him up. Did he just existed or didn't exist. He didn't know. He couldn't feel or see himself. Was he just a set of eyes? Was he just a soul looking out? After a while a dim green magic started to glow from him. Suddenly he could make out the outline of his body against the void with the green glow. He was being pieced together by the glow, his shattered form slowly becoming whole again. But something was off, this wasn't the void he knew. It was foreign like his brothers void, a void to just be traveled through. Then why was he just existing here? Where was he really?_  
  
Sans opened his eyes slowly but quickly realized he was tied down flat to a bed. Not that he had the energy to move, pain raced through his bones to the point of paralyzing him. So the restraint was pointless unless they were just there to freak him out. If he wasn't so exhausted he would be thrashing about again it.  
  
Next to him the fur covered hand of Asgore was hovering over him. A gentle green glow of magic pulsed and the old goat smiled at him. "Sorry for the discomfort Sans... And the-" Asgore would glance down at the ties to the bed. "Your brother said you were attempting to harm yourself by trying to claw at your ribs." The healing never stopped as Asgore talked.  
  
But he didn't believe the goat, why would he to that? What even happened? Moving even slightly would just sent sharp pains through his whole body. And the tight restraints just made him want to scream, glancing back at Asgore he would keep his mouth shut trying his best not to do so. But it wasn't hard to notice how the old goat was tiring quickly from using his magic.   
  
Pausing for a moment Asgore moved his hand up to Sans face before it suddenly disappeared from his vision. But felt himself being touched, Sans quickly realized that he just couldn't see out of one eye. Rubbing along the back of his skull Asgore was trying to mend a greatly increased crack.  
  
Sans just felt like crying, but just shook in frustration. "What.... happened....?" He barely managed to say as his whole head felt broken. Asgore lowered his hand and sighed for a moment. Taking a second to rub along Sans' forehead and cheek in an effort to comfort him.  
  
"From what I've been told. Lady Undyne had tried to help you with a new machine? But it went wrong, it looked like it rebounded? Um... rejected? Inside of your chest right next to your soul." Asgore paused from petting him for a moment to look down at Sans' chest. "I mended the bone the best I could but you still have some cracks, I don't know why but your brother didn't trust you to not make it worst." Asgore looked back to Sans' eyes. "Did you really try to rip at your broken your ribs?"  
  
Asgore asked in a pleading tone and Sans firmly answered. "No." He tried to speak clear enough that the boss monster wouldn't doubt him, because he really didn't know if he did or not. The goat would study him for a moment before moving to unlock the straps keeping Sans from moving in the bed. "Then there is no point for these, and i can tell they are making you uncomfortable. Which im sure your in enough pain as is." Sans nodded and let the goat release him. Taking off each strap slowly in effort to make it as less painful to Sans as possible.  
  
But Sans couldn't find the energy to move, he just laid there as Asgore continued to heal him. Out of the corner of his eye Sans saw Chara poke their head into the room. Asgore noticed them quickly. "Is the Sea Tea ready?" The child would nod and bring in a tray or two teas. Asgore set one on the night stand and quickly drank the other.  
  
"Your brother will be returning soon Sans... or at least he said so. He seemed pretty upset, granted I can see why after seeing at what happened to you." Sans had no comment. "Do you mind if I try to sit you up? I think it would be best if you drank some tea as well." Sans couldn't muster the energy to reply and Asgore slowly took that as a yes after a few moments.  
  
It was painful to be moved and even more annoying to be hand fed. He couldn't even more his arms to hold the cup. Like he was trapped in his own body. Yet this felt familiar, but in a bad way.  
  
He chocked on the tea as he realized. "Where is-" He words wouldn't come to him. "Sh-she ok?" Sans stuttered out but Asgore just looked confused, glancing at Chara the child nodded. He didn't question why the child would know that, even if it was a lie it comforted him. Relaxing for a moment Sans would weakly lift an arm just to hold onto Asgore's robe. Sans would look up when the sound of a teleport echoed. His brother stood maybe ten feet from the bed. Papyrus took a moment to look at everyone in the room before focusing on Sans. "I'm so glad your awake I-.... I-" His brother froze in shock.   
  
Sans didn't even feel mad or upset in any way at his brother. He just felt empty. Papyrus would move a little closer. "Your eye I'm so sorry- I really thought it would work Im-" As Papyrus' shaking hand reached for him Sans used what strength he had to let go of Asgore and brush his brother's hand away.   
  
It was quite between the brothers for a moment. "Take me to her..." He demanded, but he didn't have any command to it, his voice was flat. He also didn't know why he said that, was it just to make sure she was ok? If she wasn't what could he even do?   
  
Papyrus frowned and looked greatly upset and guilty. "I don't know she is-"  
Sans felt himself suddenly glare at him. It was only a few seconds before Papyrus caved and reached out for his brother. Asgore raised a hand. "Wait he shouldn't be moved like that yet-" But the brothers were gone.  
  
Appearing in a white room papyrus held his brother against himself. The sounds of machines pumping and beeping echoed in the otherwise quiet room. Sans could see that they had teleported right before a curtain in some sort of hospital ICU. A few gasps could be heard around them as two skeletons had just suddenly appeared.  
  
Pushing gently through the curtain Sans could see the woman sleep with an oxygen mask on. Several different types of fluids were hooked up to her and even with one eye he finally realized just how bad she looked. She was thin and frail looking to an extreme, her skin pale expect for variously sized red splotches and bumps. Her eyelids were dark almost and looking bruised plus her hair seemed thinner than he remembered.  
  
"We can't stay long but she is safe here-"  
"I'm staying."  
  
Papyrus sighed and Sans could tell his brother was temped to teleport again. It would be easy too, he was still being held by the taller skeleton. And with how much had he been forced around lately? Not like he could fight it...  
  
His brother would kick a chair closer to the side of the bed and set down Sans in it. Sans took a moment to gather the energy to reach out for her hand and pull it closer to him. Holding it as he rested half his body on the bed from sitting in the chair. To the touch her hand seemed sift and dead. But she was a little warmer than before.  
  
The white room beat down on him mentally, it was too familiar. But he felt to exhausted to react to it, it just made whatever magic he had left in him crawl through his bones. The sounds of his brother talking to someone right outside the curtain echoed. Ignoring all the noise and static Sans closed his eyes trying his best to block it all out. All he could do was focus on her, almost wishing his mind would see her as the voided shadow that would try to suck him in. Feeling the needed to just disappear from this familiar place. The whirl of machines made him uneasy and he rubbed the knuckles of the woman's hand to calm down. Once he was able to focus on her he could relax and quickly fell asleep.  
  
 _He felt himself being moved gently._  
  
Sans felt like he only slept a minute before waking up. Quickly realizing his brother was carrying him down a hallway still in the hospital. "Where?" He asked not sure if he wanted to know where he was or where she was. Papyrus didn't stop but spoke in a whisper.  
  
"We aren't allow to be in there for long Sans, but I convinced them to take another look over her to see if she really needed to be in there or could she be moved to a room that you can stay and visit with." Carefully he moved a knee up to hit an elevator button, once inside he did the same with the floor number. "But we are staying in a waiting room down stairs until they can give us an asnwer. Also they don't want me teleporting around so we are walking over there."  
  
He relaxed his face into his brother jacket, part of the fur from the hood tickled past his cheek. It annoyed him just enough to keep him awake. It felt like forever before he was placed down onto a small waiting room chair with his brother seated next to him. Glancing down he watched as Papyrus went to reach for a box of cigarettes only to pull out an empty pack. Looking up he noticed his brother face looked drained and stained with guilt. Sans quickly realized that the only reason Papyrus had even brought him here at all was because he felt guilty about what happened earlier.  
  
A numbness still washed over Sans laced with a dull pain. But only if he didn't move, if he tried to his body would surge with almost electric pulses of pain. Papyrus would quietly pull out his phone and Sans could see the contact name. His brother started speed texting messages back and forth with Undyne. His phone almost never stopped buzzing with how quickly the fish was replying. Sans watched for a little, only catching bits of the conversation. Guess the fish was freaking out about what happened.  
  
Sans turned his attention to a nervous looking human approaching them, it took even longer for Papyrus to notice them. Quickly his brother stood to greet them which took them off guard simply because of how tall his brother was. They talked for a moment, but the humans voice seem to blur in Sans' mind. He could make out his brother tho, and gathered that they aren't going to be moving her yet.  
  
He sighed, he wanted to argue or something. But that could even do really? Once his brother came back over and place a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok with heading home for now? I know your worried about that human but you need rest as well." Papyrus tried to use a calming voice and Sans didn't have the energy to fight it.  
  
Before he knew it he was back in his bed. The pain of being moved suddenly made his rib cage feel like someone just stomped it in. Breathing heavily Sans heard himself wheezing and his brother trying to move him to be able to breath better. Which just caused more pain.  
  
Annoyingly his phone would start ringing, his brother ignored it at first but it just called right back. Once he set Sans up to be more comfortable his brother would quickly stomp out of the room to asnwer the phone. His loud voice echoed and Sans could easily hear it.  
  
"Bitch I told you I'm trying to take care of him right now! Yeah I got it for the thousandth time your sorry! That doesn't fucking change what just happened! Look he almost died TWICE in like ten minutes I'm NOT in the mood to go back and forth with you anymore Undyne!" Sans hear something slam into the wall outside his room, he could only assume it was his brothers fist.  
  
Stomping down the stairs Sans couldn't make out anymore what his brother was saying. Staring out the open door he felt the urge to run out into it, but also to run away. It was bright out there. It wasn't the safe darkness or void. He quickly realized that he was thinking like that again. Sans sighed loudly frustrated but the movement made his rib cage pulse with pain. Lifting a hand he would touch it but that hurt as well, left to just lay still and suffer through it.  
  
Trying to distract himself he thought about what has happened. How is it that right after getting home, after finally escaping that hell hole he was now worst off than before he left it. Why was he reacting so badly to almost everything around him? He didn't do this in the forest. But then again nothing in the forest reminded him of that damned place. Sans remember something mentioned about hysteria? Is that what he was doing, just being hysterical? Well it did feel like he was losing his mind.  
  
It wouldn't be long before Sans could hear someone slam the front door. Alphys' loud voice boom through the house as her and Papyrus argued. Suddenly his brother teleported into the room as Alphys tried to beat him up here. "Just let me see him!" Alpyhs damned as Papyrus put hands on her to stop the lizard. "Be fucking careful alright!" would yell in reply before carefully letting go.  
  
Alpyhs jogged over and put both her hands on the bed causing it to shift and sent a surge of pain through his bones. "Sans!" But she quickly noticed his pain and removed her hands to stopped hovering over him. "Are you going to be ok how did- Shit your eye." Sans could see and hear her tail whipping back and forth on the ground with her panic.  
  
After staring at him with pity for a moment she smiled and gave a weak dark laugh. "Guess we aren't completely matching with eye scars now, you had to go and finally lose one." Sans really didn't appreciate the comment but Alphys continued before he could make his complaint know. "Look Undyne is a fucking wreck over this-" She glanced at Papyrus. "Your brother is too." Looking back to Sans he gave her a sour look. "And really they meant well! We all knew how proficient you are with magic and figured your soul would accept it no problem. And we have done this so many times, look I've had it done, half the guard has. Hell even your brother has! After that first attack when you went missing  Undyne was able to get most of us back on our feet." Her tail stopped for a moment. "Trust me they really were trying to help."  
  
Alphys paused for a second to see his reaction, but Sans didn't know HOW to react. He was in so much pain and so much information was missing for him to really understand. Alphys broke the silence. "... and sorry for attacking your pet thing. After whats been happening I just can't stand to look at any damn humans anymore, god I get so mad just thinking about it!" Her tail would whip hard on the ground as she clenched her fist tightly to the thought.  
  
Sans sighed hard, really hard. It made him dizzy how much it hurt to do so. He felt so awful and he could barely move, but something about that put him at ease. He dealt with barely moving before, he could handle this. Opening his mouth hurt but Sans would force himself to speak as loud as he could.  
  
His voice came out as a whisper. "Tell me... what happened. Alphys what happened... while I was gone?" Sans watched as her face crunched with guilt before putting up the nightstand next to the bed to use as a chair for her large form. Papyrus would move a bit closer as well.  
  
They didn't seem to know where to start.  
  
Sans watched as the two awkwardly tried to figure out where to start. Shifting there eyes between each other a few times. Still standing Papyrus would start first. "So... you went missing along with several other royal guards. It was during our mission to curb and or stop someone rumored to be making anti-monster weapons. We all found out the hard way that what they were making wasn't just a rumor but already in mass production. Because they had tons of it and used it to bombed there whole facility with it. Those bastards didn't give a shit that their own men were still in the building. Look like about only half came prepared for it for the surprise attack, the other half either died or were killed off soon after the fighting started."  
  
Papyrus would rub his eyes stressed. "Either way it affected all of us bad, i originally teleported away from the source only to figure out that I couldn't use my magic to teleport back in because that's how fast the magic suppressant effect of it worked. By the time I got back in monsters were running for their lives out of the building and-" He paused shaking as the thought was upsetting him.  
  
Alpyhs raised a hand to interrupt Papyrus. "Your brother went back in using a mask off a dead human, but as we all found out each room was just covered in white dust. So much in fact it was extremely hard to tell the difference between it and monster dust. Going back in we had to pull your brother out of there because he was damn near rolling it trying to find what might have been left of you or at least any sign of you." She would turn to look at Papyrus, he was reliving the moment as he covered his face with a hand.   
  
Alpyhs would slap Papyrus' back quickly. "Sit and calm down." She commented to the taller skeleton before continuing with an official and stern sounding tone. "Right after that those anti-monster bastards went public from being some kinda of dumb humanitarian peace group to humanities new pro-human group 'The Guardship' and started slandering monsters for attacking them first-" She huffed at the lie as her tail twitched. "And this is while we all were starting to go down hill from the exposure to the gas dust shit, so then they went after the Queen with the fact they had you and the others they captured. Faceing with an unknown bio-weapon to monsters and her best soldiers either missing, unable to use magic or dead the Queen couldn't make any sort of action to stop the slander from spreading."  
  
Papyrus finally sat down on the edge of the bed carefully. "So while me, Alphys and the rest of the guard were disabled the Tori went to Undyne for a cure. Killed the few first she tried helping but since I still had at least some strength left I helped make the magic booster. And... it worked." His brother would give a pleading look to Sans. "We got everyone back on their feet and fighting. Now the hunt continued for those bastards under the Queens orders. I followed any lead I could... looking for you."   
  
Alphys continued. "We got a big break and caught one of their testing building off guard and raided it." She would sigh heavily. "Come to find out that building was testing it as some type of powdery... acid? It ate away at a monsters magic so quickly that if they got enough dumped on them at once they couldn't keep there form and just... dusted."  
  
Papyrus growled and took over. "Killed every fucking person there and burned the damned place to the ground along with any research notes on it. But we were too late and they would start using this method to quickly take out single monsters if they got them alone and in the right place. Just because it takes a huge fucking amount of that dust power to just kill them outright it didn't happen often." His brother would start moving his hand as he talked. "Soo... back to Undyne and we made a types of underarmor and gear to completely cover a monsters form. Mine is sitting in the closet downstairs."  
  
Alphys chimed in. "Yeah me and Undyne keep ours at the house."  
  
Papyrus would fold his arms. "Then..." He trailed off. "We took down a second testing building with no trouble. That's when they started releasing stuff about you and the other monsters, before they only gave proof of your capture and confinement but we didn't know to what extended they were torturing everyone until that point. The Queen gave the command to not let up and continue going after them."  
  
Alpyhs got twitchy. "All while to normal humans we were being looked at like savages just going after this humanitarian group. Causing the Queen to have an increasingly difficult time with human government. Though somehow Chara is enough of a sweet talker to keep them from putting a hit list on all of us. That damned child can work miracles." She paused for a moment to sigh. "So the Guardship  panicked without the help of human police or government. They threatened to just kill all prisoners, one by one we got video and pictures of monsters being dusted somewhere. Then... they just stopped."  
  
Papyrus would look at his phone. "They were constantly calling to mess with me but they stopped suddenly, I almost didn't asnwer the phone for anything after but- then you called Sans. You were just- in the middle of no where. Like how?"  
  
Sans moved slightly and groaned in pain, he had been listening and processing that happened. Just realizing how bad everything had gotten, how many times his brother and his royal guard were almost killed without him. How much more dangerous these bastards had gotten... Moving to speak Sans ended up just winching in pain and placing a hand on his rib cage. It had been a while since Asgore healed him and the pain reducing effects of it were wearing off.  
  
Alphys looked at him with pity. "I bet it's hard to even move let alone talk after having your damned chest explode open. Glad the old goat was able to put you back together but when I left Undyne I know she was working on someway to modify the machine for you and some put together some pain killers. I can tell your going to need them.  
  
He wasn't too sure if he trusted anything from Undyne right now but it was true that he needed something as he couldn't just stay like this. Just by breathing he could feel the cracks in his bones and with barely enough magic to keep himself stable he just had to accept how much in a critical condition that he was in.  
  
Alphys reached over and touched Sans' head lightly, her scaly fingers brushing past the new edge of his face crack. Sans whine in complaint of being touched. "Sans... I know you need time, you need to recover. But we need you back out there as soon as possible-"  
  
Papyrus would interrupt. "Alphys really??" She would ignore him.  
  
"You got out, you must know so much more about them. Even if you can't fight any information would be helpful, when your able. Lets talk ok?" She would ask him and Sans' mind raced. What did he even know that they didn't know already? Hell they never talked about anything when they were gassing him or beating the shit out of him. He knew one doorcode but it's not like he got that by watching them only she knew it-  
  
Sans' eyelight shrunk down realizing it, that woman. How much did she know? She had that passcode, could pick out various members just be listening to them, knew which ways to run out of that building without getting seen. If anyone was going to have useful information on this 'Guardship' it would be her right? He could bet money they talked business while raping her repeatedly.  
He would nod to Alpys much to the dismay of his brother. "We already tried hushing his recovery so you better be damned if I'm going to let you do that again Alphys." Papyrus would threaten and the lizard sat up from the nightstand. "Don't worry, I said when he is able too. For now you already told us where you found your brother Papyrus. We can work off that area and build from there." She returned the table to where it should go and smiled to Sans. "We will be waiting for you." Before turning to walk out.  
  
The two stared at her as she left and then each other as they realized that she left like some sort of character from a movie or drama. Papyrus would sigh thinking about the dorky couple before turning back to Sans. "I would ask if you have any questions but you have barely spoken a word that whole time, I'm guessing it hurts too much to talk?" He asked and Sans felt no good reason to bother replying to such an obvious question.  
  
His brother would shove his hands in his pockets and sigh as guilt spread over his face again. "...anything I can get you?" His voice was meek and quiet.  
  
"Undyne... has painkillers?" Sans fought to say and papyrus nodded. "She is working on them... I can go. Made sure she finishes them quickly." Papyrus replied quickly before teleporting. Sans dully watched just how fast his brother took the chance to leave. If those painkillers weren't done yet he fully expected his brother to go smoke or drink or both until they were.  
  
Looking up at the ceiling Sans wondered if the woman had woken up by now. How did she react to just being dumped at the hospital by his brother? Would the staff at the hospital there tell her anything about the two of them visiting? He wondered about a lot of things. But was entertained by the fact that both of them, even this far apart were mostly likely lying in a bed being miserable as hell at the same time.  
  
Thinking back to it. He always wondered how long she had been imprisoned with those bastards, judging by her poor health it had to have been a long time. Sans figured that she had gotten some decent information during that time? But he came to the realization how hard it might be for her to bring up those details of that place again. Personally knowing that he wouldn't want to if he was in her position. Also he was assuming that she wanted to be involved in a monsters fight, he wouldn't blame her for a second if she chose to just disappear from all this back and forth between monsters and humans. She had suffered enough from one side too, she had to hear about the propaganda that they spread too.   
  
Sure she was fine with Sans but once she was more and more around monsters would she fear them? Undyne and Alphys already scared the hell out of her. Even without all this current fighting monster kind has a pretty rough history, once again she might not want to be involved.  
  
Did he want her to be involved? Sans realized he was assuming that she would help him, something he caught himself doing a lot. Well when they can figure out some way to communicate he needed to make sure what she wanted. And he would have to respect that.  
  
Selfishly though he just could feel it in his bones that she would want help. She always seem too, and he would use that. He wanted revenge too, and even knew a certain few that he REALLY wanted to get too. Betting that he could even get her to help, he had seen how she dived straight for that lovesick fool before. But that would put her on the front line wouldn't it? He realized how much of a risk that was but, didn't feel anything about it. Did he not care about her health when it came to revenge?  
  
It was a confusing feeling.


	23. Brotherly Tension

Sans found himself unable to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. Soon enough boredom over took his desire to not be in pain and he got up slowly. Just sitting at the edge of the bed for a while. Sans took the time to look down at his rib cage and the cracks, it looked like his magic was just barely keeping them together. By now they should have already sealed and would begin the scarring process.  
  
Thinking back he remember Asgore saying that... he tried clawing open his chest? What did he remember? Placing a hand over his scarred eye sans pictured himself being overflowed with something foreign and reaching for his soul. But he could only assume it 'rejected' because it wasn't fully him. It was his brothers magic trying to reach him right? Why would his soul reject that? Deep down did he not trust his brother? His soul ached at the thought.  
  
Placing his feet on the ground Sans would start a very slow walk.  
  
The 'hysteria came to mind, sure he was freaking out with very little reason but- There WAS a reason right? Even if it was very small... was it small? yeah the things that set it off were small but looking back it was still torture that happened to him.  
  
Also he didn't think hysteria would cause the hallucinations.  
  
Placing a hand on the bathroom door to open it gently Sans was able to get the first look at himself in a long time. It was so foreign that he just wanted to turn away but he couldn't. Still wearing the rags from the cabin the shirt was shred from his rib cage exploding open. The scar over his eye now continued to run back over the top of his head almost reaching the back. His bones were a dull faded color, not from being dirty either but from the lack of magic.  
  
Raising a hand Sans feathered his fingers over where his eyelight should be. He didn't have real eyes so it was strange that it went out. He could only guess it was either he didn't have enough magic to maintain it, which why would he have the other one? Or the scar over his eye was now too damaged to contain it. Plus his working eye was just a dull gray, not matching his magic's color anymore. Either way Sans found it disturbing to only see out of one eye. Playing in the mirror he sickly came to the realization of how many more blind spots he had to deal with now. And the fact that the scar had always been a damned target for someone wanting to kill him meant that they might be able to now with how damaged it was. It was disturbing to imagine the crack just going all the way down the back of his skull and half his face falling off. In fact he was already having trouble coming to terms with how bad it already was that just wanted to puke. Though held it down the best he could because puking just sounded extremely painful.  
  
Looking to his side Papyrus was exiting his room in a panic, and quickly trotted over to him in the bathroom. "Sans what are you doing up?" He quickly asked and glanced at himself once more before answering. "Got bored." He didn't know what else to say, that he just wanted to see how terrible he looked? To see how much the proud leader of the royal guard has fallen? To understand the way everyone looked at him?  
  
Papyrus would offer Sans a lidded cup with a misty green liquid in it. "Had her make this up quickly so you dont have to wait any longer." Sans took it but drank it slowly, not that he enjoyed it. It was just hard to get down as it tasted of salt water and dirt. Like Sea Tea but much worst. He would give papyrus back to cup who would just hold it awkwardly. "Thanks." Sans replied and started to move out of the bathroom. His brother followed. "Did you want to lay back down? I can carry you over there or... did you have something else in mind?" His brother followed him like a scared puppy as Sans labored each step through the pain. "I want some real clothes." Moving back into the room Papyrus would get ahead of him and start pulling out clothes for him, looking back to check it each piece was alright with him.   
  
Between being naked for who knows long then into the most ill fitting abandon clothes ever Sans was ready to change into almost anything else. He didn't even care if they matched. He also didn't care about stripping and just tossing the rags on the ground and having every intention of tossing them out later.  
  
It wasn't quite his guard outfit but a causal version of it. He wouldn't let Papyrus help him dress and did notice that his brother couldn't find his favorite scarf, he didn't want to bring it up that it was most likely trashed long ago when he was captured. Though out of a box buried he managed to find a much newer looking one that wasn't quite is favorite color but close. Sans couldn't remember how long ago he got this one, but thanked his brother again when he was handed it.  
  
"Is there anything else I can get you?" Papyrus seemed a little less skittish now as he was still walking on ice around him.  Sans ignored him for a moment as he walked back to the bed and sat down, the nasty brew was starting to make him feel a little better but it needed more time. After a moment he looked back up at his brother who was waiting for an asnwer. "Something to eat." The thought of food make his bones hurt with anticipation. Which make him think back to his last couple meals. Really anything could be better. "Anything in particular?" Sans shock his head. "I don't care what."  Papyrus seemed to doubt him at first but after a moment of waiting he would just teleport away. Leaving Sans alone again.  
  
Placing a hand on his rib cage it still hurt like hell but it was feeling a little better. He couldn't even imagine what it looked like bursting open, thought he regretted the thought as it made him nauseous. Moving that hand now over his eyes he wondered if when it healed it might seal back up a little or was he just stuck with it being his large. Sighing he made a mental check list. Recover, report in with the Queen, some retraining since he must have gotten a little rusty from being chained down for so long, then back into the guard. Maybe then he could start hunting these bastards. But he doubted he could just walk back into captain position again, most likely Alphys took it while he was gone. Plus he had to deal with the fact that there would be some backlash over how his underlings got out but he was captured. Sans wasn't looking forward to that, he debated if he just quickly proved his worth again then maybe he wouldn't get a lot of heat over it. Though he knew people love to tear him down any chance they could because of his ego over the years.  
  
Lastly he needed to make time to visit her, to talk to her, to see what her wishes are. He felt like he owed her a lot and if he could help get her back on her feet he would. With how long he guessed she was there he could only assume what life she had before was completely gone. Plus if Guardship captured her for whatever reason afterwords he might just blame himself for it.  
  
Looking up his thoughts were interrupted by Papyrus teleporting back in his room with two bags from Muffet's. "I'm back, did you want to eat at the table-? Papyrus would try to ask but Sans interrupted him. "Have you cleaned it off at all?" Sans got some amusement wanting his brother get nervous and chuckled at him. "Didn't think so, besides I'm so exhausted I don't even care. I'll just eat on the bed." Papyrus let out a loud nervous laugh as he handed Sans his bag of food. "Look I am sure your my brother? Even if he was on his death bed he would get up off it to eat at a table." His brother joked as he sat down on the side of the bed with Sans. Pulling out his favorite BBQ sandwich.   
  
Sans just pulled out the fries at first as he didn't know how much it would hurt to try and eat. Picking at them to test it out. "Well that reminds me that I'm going to force you to help me clean this damned house soon." Glancing up papyrus froze for a moment. "Your not getting out of it." His brother chuckled with food in his mouth. "Is that a challenge?" Sans snapped quickly. "No you damned Mutt." Papyrus still smiled at the insult and was relaxing more now that the two were bickering a little bit like normal again. While temping to continue Papyrus shifted awkwardly before asking the question.  
  
"Sans... Can you tell me what happened to you? I mean I saw some of it through the bullshit Guardship sent and you don't have to go over every detail. I just... want to know, also I want to know about her." Papyrus would mention the woman and Sans paused for a moment. An imagine of her still in the room popped into his mind as he got uncomfortable. "Sure." Sans replied quickly before ignoring it and eating half of the burger that was in the bag. Then he finished off the fries before finally looking up to see his brother still waiting for more. He decided to finish the rest of the burger as well. Papyrus just sighed as he watched Sans avoid talking.  
  
After there wasn't any food left he started to pick slowly at Papyrus share of fries. "Honestly..." Sans would finally start talking. "I dont want to think about it, but I'm going to have to explain to you, to the Queen. Most likely the Guard, and depending on how big of a problem this become to the news. I'm just not ready for that much talking." Papyrus would take a few fries before Sans could polish off the second helping. "Well you don't have to do that all at once, just start with me." Sans didn't like that his brother was right, or that Papyrus was guarding his fries now. Sighing Sans was running out of ways to avoid it.  
  
"Well I was captured, I remember foolishly running straight through all that gas that by the time I realized it was affecting me it was too late. And... I only have vague memories of being transported." It was weird for Sans to think back on, he only remembered the hallucinations of that time. How he was shoved around and chained by shadows. How he could feel sound or see smells. "When I woke up I was in some holding room chained to the ground, wasn't fed, beaten each time those bastards came by to test that gas on me. Had been threaten to be killed, but that isn't anything new." Papyrus listened calmly but Sans could tell he felt guilty. He wondered how hard his brother blamed himself. Sans decided he would keep details short for his brothers sake. "Then when I got out we ran for a couple days, ended up hitch hiking out of the woods before calling you."  Papyrus sat on the story for a moment before asking. "We ran? At what point did you met the human?" Sans thought about it, she was... literally the first thing he saw when his mind cleared.  
  
"She had always been there." He would feel his soul ache when he thought back to the first stare, her awful eyes. Papyrus got a little suspicious. "Always? Like is she part of the Guardship?" Sans almost choked. "Fuck **no**. Those bastards kept her there like a slave, starved her and raped her for hours on end no way she would be a part of them!" He found himself getting riled up and Papyrus suddenly had a look of understanding wash over his face. "You care about what happened to her a lot more than what happened to you." Papyrus noted and Sans fell silent. He knew he did, but when he first saw her he kinda hated her. But after all that happened, all she put herself through he started to care. Looking at it now it did dawn on him how strange that must be, he hated almost all humans. He had murdered plenty of them and even  monsters too, but now the ruthless captain of the royal guard softens to this dying little human? Sans would bring his legs up to cross them while sitting on the bed. "She is the reason I got out, she was in the same room I was in and was able to find lock picks, help me get unchained and sneak past our locked door. I might... still be there or dusted." He would look to the side in shame.  
  
"She was beaten and raped even more because of her efforts to help me, I owe it to her. And that's why I care. She helped save me when I couldn't do anything to help her."  
  
It was silent between the brother for a moment. Sans had a hard time dealing with the ache in his chest as he was admitting a failure. A failure to save himself, to admit he was so beaten down and useless that he would have dusted. Suddenly a strong hand fell onto Sans' shoulder and he looked up at his brothers stern face.  
  
Papyrus saw Sans depressed face and spoke firm. "You dont. Owe her anything." Sans flinched in shock at his words. "It's great and all that she helped you but you don't owe her your time or life to repay that. We got her to the hospital, she is going to have the care she needs to get better. I doubt she helped you just so you could follow her around owing her your life like a dog on a leash. But Sans, you owe it to yourself to focus on yourself and your recovery. Not hers." Sans quickly spoke. "But you don't understand she-" Papyrus would stop him by shaking his shoulder a bit, not realizing the pain that would shoot through Sans body. He gasped quickly and held his rib cage. "Shit, sorry." Papyrus let go and stood up.  
  
"But please, just think about it, rationalize it. But you don't owe her anything, so please focus on yourself." He would already be pulling out a pack of smoke while teleporting. Sans held his rib cage in pain as all he could do was think about what his brother said. It was hard to digest what his brother said though. Logically he knew that he didn't need to help her, some might say he already did enough. But down in his soul he felt he needed to do a little more. He had planned to help her on her feet and knew that he could at least try that. Though he supposed if she didn't want that help then he would finally back off.  
  
But then he remembered the possible information she had.   
  
No, he both had a want to help her and a reason for it. So he decided that he shouldn't doubt this feeling. His brother could just be disappointed in him, not like he hasn't gone through worst shame already.   
  
Once the pain calmed down Sans got back up and looked around his room. Right now he wanted to see her, but had no way of knowing which hospital she was at or what room or anything. Even if he just called or hell even showed up at one how would he find her? Hi I'm here to see the severely ill and mute woman, oh no I don't have her name or anything. He laughed at himself mentally.  
  
So he did what he could, he started cleaning. First by picking up the trash from the two of them eating moments ago to the cabin clothes. Both going straight into the trash, then smoothing out the rest of his room. It thankfully wasn't bad beside needing a little dusting, but the dust would just have to stay. He could get a lot more done by not focusing on the little things. Walking outside his room he look a good look at the house and his motivation to clean dropped greatly. There was just so much trash everywhere, plus the damage was bad. Looking at the wall right next to his door was messed up, he think he remembered that one being from when Undyne called right after- the magic booster. Bits of wall were on the ground and without a bag Sans just left it as is, focusing on heading down to the kitchen. And while he was feeling better thanks to the liquid painkiller it was still hard to move at a normal pace. But once down there he got a good look at one of his favorite rooms in the house in utter chaos. Sighing he felt a bit numb about it and walked over to the trash can.  
  
Shoving the overflowing trash down he tried to tie it off, when it was too full to close  and Sans got annoyed do he started tossing anything on top of the pile too the floor until it could close. He would try pulling it out of the can but the strain of trying to lift made him hiss in pain. Quickly letting it drop back down and taking a moment to hold his rib cage. Soon he walked over to the sink and pulled out more trash bags from under it. From there he when to the fridge to dump out all the spoiled food, next to the counter tops and basically just sweep everything on them into the trash bag, next the table.  
  
He found himself winded already, taking the cup he drank from before and took his time with a glass of water. "Heh." Sans heard Papyrus from behind him, figuring he must have teleported. "Look at that I already got out of some of the cleaning-" His brother didn't bother dodging the empty trash bag Sans threw at him. "Pick the shit up out of the living room." Sans barked and Papyrus continued to chuckle. "Yes, Milord." His brother replied joking before walking off. Sans listened to make sure his brother started to do what he asked before continuing himself. Finding little bits here and there on the floor.   
  
Next he moved to the sink to do what dishes where already there. Figuring there was more around the house but he didn't bother to go find them. As he was cleaning them his brother came back in. "Im guessing your feeling better now?" His brother sounded assumed and Sans just grunted in reply. "Well I took out the trash in there, what next?" Sans paused as he felt himself getting tired but also to think of what the room looked like without having to turn to look at it. "Vacuum." And he could hear Papyrus groan loudly, Sans went back to washing dishes. "That's a hard sell for me Sans, do you ever remember a time of me vacuuming?" He complained and Sans set the last dish on the dry rack before unplugging the sink to drank. Turning around and leaning against the counter he folded his arms and started at the big baby. Papyrus gave a soft expression expecting to be scowled as usual.  
  
"I want to go see her then... but I don't know where she is. So I need you to tell me." Sans watched as his brothers expression turned sour and Papyrus moved his hands as he talked. "Sans... I told you not to worry about her and just focus on you, please." He would plead and Sans stayed firm. "So then will you vacuum?" He gave a short reply and Papyrus flinched, then walked out of the room to get the vacuum. Sans felt good for the small victory but this is also what he didn't want to happen. Because it meant that Papyrus was going to keep where she was from him. Annoying he watched as Papyrus vacuumed for a bit before moving on. Taking his time to wipe down the countertops and inside the fridge. Part of him knew that he shouldn't focus on the kitchen but he was too tired to go back and forth through the house. Plus he had his brother to boss around into helping.  
  
Grabbing a dry rag he worked on drying and putting away the dishes. Making sure each one was perfect before stacking them. He looked up once his brother stopped vacuuming, which he noted that it didn't take him long to do. Most likely it needed to be gone over again but at least progress was being made. Once he heard Papyrus' feet on the kitchen tile he spoke up. "Take the trash out of the kitchen, bathrooms and my room." He would turn back to look at his brother. "I would tell you to work on your room but I fear that you would get swallowed in the filth that lives there." Papyrus got a chuckle out of the comment before wordlessly filling the request. Sans would next pull out a bucket to mop the floor but a wave of dizziness hit him, trying to ignore it he would lean on the mop as he pushed it around. Not really cleaning but just spreading around the soapy water. His brother came back in and grabbed the mop. "Go sit on the couch for a minute." Sans had no complaint to that demand and left his brother to finish the mopping. Once on the couch he lazily laid down and closed his eyes, not quite realizing how tired he was until that moment. Which he found annoying as there was barely any cleaning done. At least the old couch was fully cleared off and comfortable.  
  
He woke up to Papyrus' jacket over him like a blanket.  
  
Confused he didn't realize he fell asleep and noticed his brother standing behind the couch leaning on it. A bit distracted as he was on the phone though would only thank the person on the other end before hanging up. "You awake?" Papyrus asked and Sans nodded. "Well do you want to rest for the day and I'll take you to see her tomorrow or go now?" Sans perked up not expecting Papyrus to offer at all. "Now." He would sit up but Papyrus just took him and teleported quickly. Sans gasped loudly from the teleport and looked up to see the main entrance of the hospital. His brother spoke in an emotionless tone. "Visiting hours end in about an hour, I'll be back." Sans snapped around to his brother quickly- "What room is she-"   
  
But that damned Mutt would teleport away.   
  
He wondered if his brother waited long enough in the day to barely give him any time out of spite. For a moment he held his head as he was still pretty exhausted, but knew he couldn't just stand out here. Moving inside all eyes where on him since this was a human only hospital, plus he doubted that he looked in any better health than before. Sans was sure some older human was going to think he was the plague on two feet. He was a symbol a death for humans, even better to just walk about a hospital as one. Either way he made his way over to reception and waited to get the attention of the woman working there. "Hello I'm here to see-"   
  
"Skeleton!" She jumped a little surprised to see the monster and pulled out a note. "Got a call from earlier, fourth floor- room nine." She would hand him the note, it was nicely written and mentioned a skeleton monster coming to visit and listed the room number. Sans would looked up from the note and nod his head to thank her, quickly leaving her as to not cause her any more distress. Once Sans got passed the entrances and waiting rooms the hallways were fairly empty. Sans took note of the overpriced gift shop and it's flowers. But knew full well he didn't bring any cash on him. Quickly taking the elevator Sans began to get a little nerve, was she going to look any better? Was she worst off? He could see her from the ICU and it wasn't something he wanted to look at again. As the elevator opened Sans almost debated leaving, he really didn't want to see her barely alive or something like that. He tried ignoring his fears but they crept back up in different ways. Walking through the lightly colored hallway he noticed how all the door were uniformed and if they weren't label it would be like an endless rat maze.  
  
 _He felt like he needed to run, but he couldn't hear the soul that he was following in front of him. His soul pounded as panic raced through his bones, he didn't know where to go. It was just endless hallways of white and only she knew-_  
  
A nurse dressed in a cheerful blue was standing next to Sans as she placed a hand on his shoulder. At some point he went over to the wall and was leaning on it with one arm, his other hand holding his rib cage as his soul raced. "Are you ok Sir?" She looked concerned and Sans straightened himself and took a few breaths. Sans would put on a fake smile. "I'm alright, just a little dizzy." The nurses face twisted as she didn't believe him but didn't press further. "May I ask if your here to visit someone?" Using a polite tone.  
  
Sans fumbled the note. "Yes! I'm looking for room nine-" She would glance at the note and stiffen. "Ah, yes I can take you there." Sans noticed and found her reaction strange, but she would quickly turn heel and he would follow. Trying to stay focused on the nurse rather than how familiar the hallways looked. The nurse would stop at door nine. "Here you are Sir-" She paused to look at her watch. "Visiting hours will end in about forty five minutes." Sans nodded and watched her turn to leave to continue working. Quickly he would enter the door not realizing until half way through it might scare her to suddenly walk in without knocking. But looking in she didn't seem to notice.   
  
First thing Sans noticed was how she was somewhat sitting up but laying down at the same time in one of those adjustable beds. Her face turned completely towards the window as the colors of the sunset could be seen. Sadly her window didn't face the sunset but at least the slightly changing colors of the sky were visible. Next he noticed a decrease in cords were hanging off her and she no longer was wearing an oxygen mask.  
  
Sans realized his words were caught in his throat for a moment. But he managed to let out a broken greeting. "Hey." Mentally annoyed that was all he could choke out.


	24. Tossed Around

She would snap her head over to see him, her face filled with relief and joy from just hearing his voice. Opening her mouth to say something but only a broken word only came out as a raspy huff. Moving forward Sans smiled at her, happy to see her looking better. He paused as her face quickly turned into horror. Sans had a sinking feeling in his soul watching her expression change. Quickly she moved her hand up and down her eye in a line quickly as she panicked. It took a moment for Sans to work out that she was asking about his scar. His soul settled a little as he realized that's all what she was panicking over. He would try to give her a smile to calm her as he pulled up a chair to the bed. The woman turned herself to face Sans and reached her hand quickly but cautious for his face. Sans was about to just let it happen but the moment she touched the edge of the fresher part of the crack his own hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. Freezing still her face was plagued with guilt as he assumed she was thinking that hurt him. "It's ok... still sore." He spoke slowly and moved her hand to cup his cheek.  
  
Closing his eyes he could feel her fingers gently rubbing the bone where the muzzle had damaged his skull as he held onto her wrist. But he found comfort in her light touch and started to relax for the moment.  
  
She would tap him with her other hand to get his attention. Looking up she would use her feel hand to gesture to her eye in a tapping motion but without touching it. Closing his eye he realized what she was asking about but didn't want her to stare at it. And she couldn't if his eyes were closed. "Hopefully it will heal and come back." He let her know and he could hear and hum as her reply. He had so much he wanted to say and talk to her about, but as her hand cupped his cheek. Gently rubbing pass his damaged face he found himself not wanting her to stop. Moving his torso down he rested his arms and head on her bed. She stopped while he moved down and watched him for a moment. It was hard to Sans to ignore everything in the room when she stopped. It felt too closed off, the room also only had one exit door, a machine was whirling and beeping with her vitals. Soon he buried his head under his own arms and groan almost painfully.  
  
 _He was trapped._  
  
Her hands would return to trace his skull, avoiding the large crack in his skull. He could feel the tension leave his bones. "Thank you..." He breathed a sigh and she gave him a light hum of approval. "...for everything." He finished and he could feel her move both hands to massage his head, neck and shoulders. Sans quickly realized how unfair it was to her to just sit here with his face buried, if she had something to say he wouldn't be able to tell what it could be. And he was sure she had as many question for him as he did for her. But as she comforted him he was able to drown out the sounds of the room and listen only to her breathing. It sounded a little less raspy but knowing she was breathing was still a comfort to his ears either way.  
  
He fell into a drowsy state for a while. But would reach up to take her hand and gently place it over the newer part of his scar on the top of his head. Holding it still she thankfully got the hint to not try and rub it. Having something pressed against it even gently made it throb but also felt nice to have something covering it. It blocked air coming into his skull where it shouldn't and the warmth of her hand seemed to ease a little of the pain. Sans tried imagined what it would feel like if she could heal him, like somehow her human warmth just sealed up the crack. It was a nice little fantasy but if Asgore wasn't able do anything to it he doubted anyone else could. He would just need to wait and see how it changed when he got his magic back, if it did at all.  
  
After a little it became a little too uncomfortable with her hand against his scar and let go of her wrist so she could let go. Lifting back up he could see that she had calmed down but still had a concerned look. "It was an accident, it will be ok." He told her not too sure if he was lying or not. Looking around he noticed her hospital gown, the bag tied to the bed with her cabin clothes, and the table on the other side of the bed. It had little portions of snacks like jello, yogurt and water. But what caught his eye was some hospital notepad and pen, it looked like several pages where already filled out. The woman noticed him staring and seemed to brighten up a little. Pulling the note pad into her lap she opened a new page and quickly wrote on it. Sans could see that her writing hand was the one that was slashed open before and she had trouble holding the pen tight enough. The letters would come out a little wobbly but it wasn't anything that he couldn't read. Though anger build in him for a moment as he remembered when the brutish bastard did that to her.  
  
Distracting him from the sour thought she would hold up the notepad for him to see. "we can talk now" Sans felt like he could read that in her voice but realized he must was making one up in his mind since he had never heard her speak before. Sans smiled and opened his mouth but words fell short on his tongue.  
  
Did he want to just start asking about who she was? About what she could know about Guardship? How she even got herself in that position with them? She would turn her notepad back and start writing again. "thank you for helping get out i couldn't without you pushing me forward" Sans felt emotional reading her second message. He didn't feel like he should be thanked, hell he made things worst for her and she was the one that pushed through it and got them out. Cursing himself mentally he even remembers almost abandoning her, debated mercy killing her. Why would she-  
  
"Visiting hours are up bro-" Papyrus teleported into the room and froze when he saw Sans upset. "Right..." Sans slumped a little depressed that he had such a short time amount of time today. Reaching for her hand and rubbing her knuckles gently. "I'll be back soo-"  
  
Suddenly he was in his house. Snapping his head around he could see his brother looking pissed off. "Go get some sleep Sans, you need to rest." Gritting his teeth he couldn't understand the pettiness of his brother, but also didn't want to blow up on him. "Fine." And would stomp his way up the stairs. Tossing himself on the bed he would instantly regret it as his ribs creaked under the presser. Flipping over to his back Sans groaned loudly in pain as he held himself. It reminded him that he only had a limited time left before that brew Undyne gave him would wear off. Even more annoyed now he tried his best not to focus on any of it.  
  
Sans laid there with his eyes closed for a while.  
  
But his body just felt agitated and couldn't relax. Snapping up Sans just caused more pain but he almost didn't care. Just focusing he pulled himself out of bed and down the stairs, looking to head into the kitchen. On the way he noticed his brother just wanting TV on the couch but choose to ignore him. On his way back however his brother spoke up. "Can't sleep?" He sounded concerned enough the Sans stopped in his tracks. Looking over he was being stared at and a guilt wash over his bones. Sighing Sans walked over to the back of the couch and leaned on it. "No I can't." Listening to his brother as his sipped the water.  
  
Papyrus would pat the seat near him. "Well come and sit down, watch some boring human show, I'm sure it will make you fall asleep." Giving it only a moments thought Sans walked around and sat on the couch. "I don't doubt that claim, human TV is dreadful."   
  
The two got comfortable as his brother started flipping through channels trying to find something that wasn't an hour one special trying to sell vacuums or something. Sans felt himself being watched by his brother though. "Sans... you look stressed." Sans took a moment to think about it. Was that why he couldn't sleep? I mean between everything that had happened, what needed to happen in the future, and what he was currently pissed off about. He guessed stressed could be a word for it. Though it wasn't something he would like to admit, he prided himself in handling stressful situations. "Maybe..." He gave a soft reply.  
  
His brother would let out a low grunt that was almost a huff. "I can see it on your face bro." He would let the simmer for a moment before sitting up and turning to Sans. "And it's that damned human isn't it? Your constantly worrying about her and it pisses me off. Worry about yourself Sans!" His brother would start to go into a rant and Sans dropped his glass of water to point his finger. "Your the one that thinks that! In fact your the one that is pissing me off right now! How dare you accuse her of anything when she is the one that saved my damned life!" Sans shouted back but his brother would continue without missing a beat.  
  
"So?! Alphys has saved your ass plenty of times, half the guard has. Sans do you fucking remember how many times I almost died in the Underground saving you?! And suddenly some damned human comes and does it and you just stop getting a fuck about yourself and fawn all over them?!" Papyrus would move closer pointing his own finger at Sans.  
  
Sans felt a tinge in his soul as his brother started to come closer, hovering over him. Screaming down at him. "Back off!!" He screamed and would summon bones to protect himself.   
  
But nothing happened.  
  
Gasping loudly he would clench his rib cage from the pain as his soul throbbed. As if what little magic was keeping him alive was almost wasted on a bones attack. Papyrus quickly grabbed both his wrists and pinned him down on the couch. "Fuck the hysteria is kicking back in." Pushing both of Sans hands together his brother held them with one hand while ripping his scarf off.  
  
 _He could feel himself being shoved around unable to fight back._  
  
Papyrus quickly flipped Sans around and tied his hands behind his back. "I'm sorry bro but I'm not about to let you try and tear open your chest again." His voice would wavier as he was he was getting upset.  
  
 _A dark weight pressed against him, tying him down. it was so strong that he could feel his bones start to creak from the presser.The more he struggled the worst it got._  
  
 _The pain got so bad that he thought he was going to die. And went to started to finally stop, he debated if he did die. But even in the void his soul ached just enough that he knew it wasn't, but he almost wished the void would just shallow him up already._  
  
 _He felt himself drift in nothingness. it was calming and he was finally able to relax. To let himself just exist and fade. But something would disturb his rest. Something was shoved into him through his mouth. Panic rised in him but it left as quickly as it came._  
  
 _Soon he could start to feel himself again, and feel the pain. It was dim but there, opening his eye he saw nothing before suddenly everything._  
  
Sans felt like shit, plus panic rose in him as his hands where still tied behind his back. But the pain was to great to focus on it. Looking up he saw papyrus smiling at him with great concern splashed in. Behind him was Undyne just looking concerned.  
  
"Finally got him to take it." His brother spoke to Undyne with relief but the fishes expression didn't change. Papyrus got worried. "What?" He questioned th fish but she would hold eye contact with Sans as he was waking up. "The hysteria never lasted this long in anyone else. And you said he just randomly started digging at his ribs while you two were fighting?" Papyrus would nod at her before looking back to notice Sans waking up. "Hey bro, just gave you some painkillers. Your going to feel better in a little bit I promise."  
  
Undyne moved slightly and picked up a clipboard with messy papers and notes, flipping through them she found what she was looking for a started scribbling down quickly. Sans could feel himself hold his breath as he stared at it. Wiggling his hands were still tied behind him.   
  
_He could feel the pain of being beat down by that human with the clipboard and crazed smile, his scar already throbbing. He feared his skull would break if it happened again._  
  
Undyne carefully watched as Sans started to scoot himself backwards into the couch with his free legs. Papyrus would grab him and hold him still out of fear of him hurting himself. She would be completely still as she ran through the ideas in her head before causally tossing her clipboard over her shoulder like trash. Sans eyes followed it with his eye until it was out of sight, then focused on getting his hands free by pulling on them as hard as his weak body could.  
  
"Papyrus, untie him." She commanded sternly, his brother would snap his head back to look at her. "You have seen how hysterical he gets what if-"   
  
She would bark at him. "Do it."  
  
Confused Papyrus knew he shouldn't but was too panicked for Sans that he did it anyway. Once untied Sans covered his scar with his hands and started to calm down. Papyrus looked back up at the fish confused. Undyne's face would sour as she crossed her arms and thought about it. "Well I've guessed ever since seeing his soul that the mixture they used on him was different than the one we have fought before Papyrus. So it would make sense to have different... symptoms." She paused to think harder on her words.  
  
"it's a bit out of my general field but... it looks like he might be having temporary-" She paused again, almost not really wanting to say it. Papyrus stood up from Sans to put presser on her to say it. But having all the focus on her just made her stutter. "P-PTSD-D symptoms... b-but don't worry! Sans is-isn't a weak monster like th-that!" She would hold up her hands as she was stared of being retaliation against for such an accusation. "Onc-once his ma-magic comes back he-he should be-be able to recover from the sym-symptoms of PSTD! It's not permitted!" Sans glanced over to his brother as he turned to look at him as well. Sans could see the confusion and guilt in his brothers face, but also how lost his brother looked. These types of things were ignored underground unless you wanted someone to use that against you. He remembered that's why if you admitted you had it you were a weak monster.  
  
And Sans was suppose to be one of the strongest monsters of them all.  
  
Sans curled himself into a ball and held himself as he thought about it. Between all the visions and the little things that sent him into a panicked state. He actually didn't doubt the claim, what he just couldn't believe it was happening to him, of all monsters. His brother would turn to Undyne. "So..." A trace awkwardness echoed in his voice. "It's possible that gas they used on him caused this? Because we all have been through so much worst..."  
  
Listening to his brother Sans realized how much he did not want to hear this conversation. Undyne would fold her arms to hug herself nervously but put on a cheerful voice. "Yeah! I can do more re-research into it but other monsters had large bouts of hysteria then he could just be having something like PTSD. Which if you think about it, could be why the magic booster didn't work! We might be dealing with a poison that needs a hold new approach!" Papyrus nodded as he was willing to accept that asnwer and turned back to brother. "We are going to help you through his bro, but ima drop you off in your bed first-" Sans would try to wiggle from his brother grasp but just cause more pain to himself. "No." He was able to call out. His brother paused and stared at him for a moment. "You have to rest until the painkiller kicks in Sans." He would scowled him lightly and gently grasp him.   
  
"I don't want to be in pain alone." Sans was able to blurt out.  
  
Undyne hummed. "I can't have you in the lab being his fragile Sans." He glanced at the fish before looking back at his brother. "Just... drop me off with her then." He would plead but he could feel his brother flinch at the request. Undyne stepped in. "Papyrus we don't know what sets him off and having him alone isn't the greatest idea. Besides if he is with someone they can call incase something happens." She sighed. "Just do it Paps." Undyne reasoned with him and Sans could feel himself being teleported as his brother didn't bother giving the fish a reply.  
  
Appearing in the dark hospital room Sans realized he was being carried over to the chair he sat in a while ago. The woman was asleep peacefully with the green lightly of her vital magic shining down on her face. "Hey." Papyrus spoke loudly to wake the girl up, looking shocked to see them let alone Sans in Sans just a weak condition. Once Papyrus set him down he reached for her notepad and scribbled down a phone number quickly. "Have to take care of some stuff, I'm guessing your mute but just call anyway if he starts to get worst." She would nod at him and the two stared at each other for a moment. Sans could tell he was searching for something in her eyes and Sans remembered long ago doing the same. He wondered what his brother saw in them as he teleported out of the room.  
  
The two sat wordlessly in the room for a few moments. Sans just watching the green light pulsing across her skin, it was just calming enough that it almost felt familiar to him. She would sit up and move herself to the end of the bed to hug him gently. He returned the hug even though his body throbbed to do so. Sans felt like passing out but he was just to uncomfortable, even after leaning down to rest his head in her lap he couldn't. Plus after hearing her yawn a few times he felt too guilty keeping her up. "Im fine... go back to sleep." Gently he pushed off of her and sat back in the chair but that didn't help the pain.  
  
He could only assume she could tell just how much pain he was in just sitting up. Because when she laid down the woman left enough room and patted the bed for him to join her. Looking over it the bed was just a single and small.   
  
_Reaching out he would hold onto the little void in all the darkness._  
  
Sharing a small space never stopped them before, and even though it was painful to force himself to stand let alone raise himself to the bed, but he did it anyway. Carefully avoiding to pulling any of the cords hanging off of her. When he was finally on the bed his bones were rattling from pain, she would carefully bring her arms around him and hold him.  
  
Sans heard himself whimper painfully but looking at her and feeling her there calmed his soul. he could deal with the pain of it. For a moment he stared at the soft green glow in the room, realizing it was familiar because of healing magic. Maybe he could pretend someone was healing him right now? Closing his eyes again he relaxed and started to fall asleep in this woman's arms.  
  
 _He could see a flash of color and feel something thank him._


	25. Difficult Talk

_He could tell that he was laying down and didn't want to move, didn't want to open his eyes just yet. Relaxing he could feel the forest around him, the wind as it blew gently past them, the rustle of life all around them moving gently back and forth. Somewhere out there he sensed something scary, it felt like an impending doom. But right now? He could feel her as he clung onto her, for the moment they were safe together. Gripping her tighter he could feel her heartbeat against his bones._  
  
Sans woke up slowly, barely moving as he noticed her sitting up and writing something in a panic. As she held it up to someone he only got a glance of what it said. "please don't wake him" A females voice would whisper back. "Ok, but he can't be in your bed when your doctor comes in a couple hours." The woman nodded and was handed a little cup of pills to take with water.   
  
He pretended to still be asleep until the nurse closed the door as she left. The woman would scoot back down to cuddle him and getting close to his face and chest with her own. He could feel her breathing down his bones and her arm drift up to his upper arm and hold him gently. Once she was comfortable he moved his arm to hold her and surprise into her. "Morning." He spoke quietly and she hummed in reply. Letting herself relax into him and the sheets.  
  
It would get quiet between the two as they almost fell back asleep. Sans tried to imagine his dream again, of the calming forest and wind. But wasn't able to get the same kind of relaxation he had before from it. The room around them kept him just enough on edge. Glancing up he watched her vital monitor thing bouncing up and down with her heartbeats, Trying to make some connection between the one he could feel and the one that was displayed. After a while Sans remembered the nurse's warning and glanced down to the woman, she would look back up at him sleepily. "I don't want to get you in trouble with your doctor so let me up." He asked and she would let go without complaint besides a bit of a pout, Sans just smiled at her before moving over to the chair.  
  
Thankfully moving didn't seem to painful now and he figured that painkillers were doing their job just fine. While Sans was getting comfortable the woman started to slowly write down on the notepad. "what happened last night? are you ok?" She would show him. Sans let out a weird chuckle. "I got in a argument with my brother, and well..." He paused to think about it. "I should start over." He watched as she turned to sit on the bed facing him. "You remember that machine that Undyne brought over? Um... the fish monster." The woman's face twisted as she did recall the monster that was taking pictures of the two of them after she was slashed. "Yeah.... that one. Anyway that thing she brought was going to fix my magic, or at least it was suppose too." Sans would take a moment to lift his shirt and listen to her gasp slightly. Looking down himself it was like his bones where still visible cracked and looked like they were held together by play dough, he quickly let go of the shirt and moved a hand up to his eye. "The machine didn't work I guess. And magic just went everywhere from what I'm told. But I'm going to be ok, I just need time to heal." He would confirm with her in hopes of not worrying her, but by her face he knew that was a vain effort.  
  
She would continue to reply by writing. "and the fight with your brother?" Looking at the question he just sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah... that." He paused not sure how to reply, not really wanting to tell her about it. It would best to change the subject. "is it about me?" Sans flinched as he watched her get depressed over it, slumping her shoulders down which caused her hair to fall in her face a bit. He remembered hating that and moved to sit back up too place a hand on her leg to comfort her. "No no, it's not that I-"   
  
"ive seen the way he looks at me."  
  
Sans shut his mouth with a snap, he didn't know what to say. And his reaction just confirmed it with her. "im sorry." He would read and Sans placed a hand over her notepad to keep her from writing. "Listen to me, it doesn't matter what he thinks. Know that I want to repay you for helping to get me out of there. You suffered way more because of all that you did to try and get us both out. And I owe it to you to help you now." She would quickly rip her notepad out from under Sans' hand and write on it before he could grab it again. "dont only stay just because of that" Her letters were hard to read once she shoved it back in his face from trying to write quickly. Taking his chance he snatch it away. "That's not it! I'm here because I want to be here!" He would raise his voice to her as she almost fell off the bed trying to reclaim the notepad.  
  
Sans dropped the book as he grabbed her and pushed her back to a sitting position on the bed. Winching in pain from the strain of doing so, but would ignore it as he reached off the side of the chair to bring the notepad back. "While I do feel like I owe you, don't think that is the main reason. You... showed me a kindness that I want to return. And I personally, want to see you in a better place than when I met you." The woman looked like she was going to cry as she took back the notepad and wrote in it. "im already in a better place" Sans would shake his head. "If YOU don't want me here then I wont be, but I WANT to be here." Sans proclaimed and she would stare at him for a moment, then at the paper in her hand.  
  
It took her a moment to think of what to write at first. "ok" Even after she seemed to want to write more but the tears finally started. Sans stood up painfully and pulled her into a hug, under him he noticed her write something but for a moment he just continued to hug her until she calmed down a little. Sitting back down he noticed what she wrote even though she wasn't showing it to him. "im just a whore i dont deserve it" Reaching up he would grabbed the page alone. When she went to pull back not wanting to lose her only method of talking again, the page was ripped out. He held it for her to see but out of her reach.  
  
"You are not a whore." He would rip it in half and place the two side together.  
"You do deserve help." Ripping again in half before placing the four pieces together.  
"if that were be true then I'm also a monster that can't recover, that because of what happened, what I was forced through is going to define me." He would rip again and once more before tossing the paper dramatically behind him as it fell like feathers to the ground.  
  
"We went through some of the worst things that can happen to a human and a monster. I want to help because you help me even now. We can help each other get better." He paused for a moment realizing that he wished his had this confidant early when talking to his brother, it might have saved himself from getting into a fight earlier. "Do you get what I'm saying?"  
  
Sans watched as she looked sad but kept a weak smile plastered on her face. "yes" It was a simple reply but he nodded. "Then lets all relax and we can figure out what to do next." He sighed and slumped in his chair, placing a hand over his scar. She would do similar by adjusting her bed up to sit and lay down at the same time. He noticed her looking out the window. He did the same, watching how the sky was a light blue with a scattering of white puffy clouds. it allowed him to ignore any negative thoughts for a moment.  
  
Humming lightly to himself he debated. What DO the two of them need to do from here? For him that was easy, he had already thought about it before. Magic, Train, Return to Guard. But a greater concern was the fact Undyne mentioned PTSD. Even though she just said it was temporary and a side effect of the gas, he believed that he had it for real. It made his soul ache just admitting that mentally. Sure the hallucinations and weakness are FROM when the gas started it but it wasn't causing him to still have it right? It had been a little bit since he escaped and he was still having problems with it. He just needed to except it. If not then he could only assume that he was just straight up losing his mind.   
  
Which meant he would have to do something about it. Watch him go talk to some mental doctor and they say he has something else, that would be a treat. On that same thought, he realized how little resources there were for monsters like that. It just... wasn't something monsters talked about or publicly dealt with. If he was serious he could go to a human for it? That just sounded wrong in his head. He kinda just brushed it off to the bottom on his list, just in case it got worst.  
  
Glancing over to her he realized that she would need the same right? Getting raped repeatedly and starved for who knows how long had to have some nasty effects on her mentally. He could already see the physical effects. Thankfully his brother did end up bringing her here for the physical stuff. Which made him wonder what all the treatments they were giving her. She looked better so it had to be good right? It felt right to let humans handle that for her, he wouldn't even know the first thing about it.  
  
He noticed that she didn't have any bandages on, it made him wonder how that gash from Alphys healed. He couldn't see it from his angle, but it wasn't importation enough right now to make her show him.  
  
Annoyingly he remember that he needed to talk to her about Guardship.  
  
Sighing loudly she looked back at Sans and he gave her a small smile. "Well from what I figure, you are doing well in the hospital. So I can trust you and your doctors with that. But I want to know if they mentioned..." He found himself awkward asking about it, it felt taboo. She would turn to him full waiting for a reply. "I mean... I'm sure I need it was well. But a um..." Her face gave him a soft smile as she happily waited, it made him feel more awkward. Vaguely he wondered if this is how Undyne felt under pressure. "Mental health doctor or something?"  
  
She would try to chuckle but it came out as short breaths. "they mentioned it" She showed him from the notepad and he relaxed. "I'm glad." he closed his eyes for a moment, just relaxing in the thought of her being taken care of for once. He would feel her tapping to get his attention. "and you?" He paused on the question and put on a fake smile. "Right now I'm working with the best doctor in the monster kingdom and plan to return to my position as soon as possible." He tried to keep it simple but the woman would frown. "don't rush it not good for you" He nodded and dropped the fake smile for a moment.  
  
Sighing it finally came down to it. "Also... I understand if you don't want to talk about it-" He watched her get nervous. "But monster kind is going after those bastards, they have been for a while. If you have anything that could be of use... like more passcodes, names, anything that we could use. We could take them down, and they would never be able to do anything like what they did to us again." She turned away and held herself, the thought seemed painful for her. He gave it a moment for her to think about but didn't wait long. "Do you remember anything?" He watched her shiver before picking up her notepad and writing a big NO on it, then turning back away in what looked like fear.  
  
For a moment he doubted himself about pressing it, but found it too be too important. "But you knew the exit doorcode, how did you know about that? That couldn't have been it." She would look back at him a little hurt but still holding onto a fearful face. "i dont want to talk about it" he painfully gritted his teeth reading that, not that he was mad but it was frustrating. "I know, I don't want to think back to anything about that place. But whatever you have could save monsters lives when they DO go, please." His soul felt heavy as he talked but choose to ignore it. Funny enough she ignored him too this time. They waited in silence before Sans reached up and gentley touched her arm. "Please... I do understand but, can you at least tell me why you don't want to say anything?" Thankfully his bet paid off and she turned back to him with tears in her eyes and wrote.  
  
"im scared" He would open his mouth "But why-" Quickly closing it as she continued to write. "that they will find me" He would sit on her bed and pull her into a hug, thankfully she reached up and held him as well. But her touch was desperate and pulled on his ribs he would grit through the pain so she wouldn't notice.  
  
Sans would pet her hair and try to comfort her. "Trust me, they wont. We are there to stop them. They won't be able too do anything to you again." He paused for a moment. "We will protect you, and more will as well if you help us." He would hold her tightly for a while.  
  
Moving back when the pain of having her cling onto him got to be a little to much. He could see that she had stopped crying but looked awful. "Will you?" Sans asked but felt bad about it, she seemed to zone out for a moment before nodding. A surprised joy fluttered through his soul and he nervously watched as she turned back to her notepad.  
  
At first he was confused as she started to draw, but watching he was able to make out a building shape? The woman would rip it from the notepad and crumble it up just to start over. The drawing would take up the whole page as it listed sections with numbers. Flipping around to the back she wrote down doorcodes to match the numbers on the front. Sans wondered how she had memorized that many doorcodes, had she been raped in almost every section of the building? What else where the doing to here there if not? Experimenting passed his mind and if that where true it might explain her loss of a voice. He would be surprised when she ripped out the paper and shoved it towards him.  
  
Before he could react she started a new page titled with passwords. She knew... a lot more than he was expecting. She even labeled what section he assumed they were for, at the bottom he watched her make a note that they might be old. She would rip this one out harder, almost tearing the page in half and shoved it towards Sans.   
  
Without comment he pocketed them and focused on her. She was shaking and crying again, but he was in too much shock at that moment. "How-?" He managed to get out and she flipped back a page and underline "i dont want to talk about it" from before. Then circled "im scared that they will find me" Quickly she buried her hands in her face and cried while shaking. And he stared at the words she circled and underlined. Then back at her and something clicked in his mind. But he really didn't want to ever think of something like that. So his mind was just stuck in a loop.  
  
Did she use to be a part of Guardship?  
  
His mind raced trying to spin it a different way. Maybe she was really able to remember all this from just being a prisoner there? Or that she heard them taking about highly sensitive issues when they were- He stopped himself from that thought. Placing a hand over the papers in his pocket she could have been a spy? That would make a lot more sense, she knew the information, knew there patterns, how to get around the place so well she could draw a map. Hell she knew which turns to take for the exit. And it would explain the torture she went through. But looking back up at her, did this react match that? Maybe the trauma was so bad that this is how she reacts to it? That didn't make much sense to him, she wouldn't be upset sharing this info, it would have been her job to do so.  
  
But she was crying, and Sans had a feeling it was from guilt. Just how long was she on the same side as these bastards? Did she also feel the same way about monsters? That also didn't make sense because of how she treated him. And how they treated her. Why would those bastards do that to one of there own? Even worst the idea that she make work on making that gas, or tested it. It... make him sick. Just the idea of her hovering over some monster with a crazed smile that the clipboard bastard-  
  
 _He remember him being interested in her for a moment before that brute bastard started beating on him._  
 _He could remember the scorn he had when telling her to back away._  
 _He remembered that the only person to call her anything close to a name was him, a whore._  
  
Was he going crazy to make that connection? He felt like that could be talked away easily, she was being passed from one man to the next. He could have just found her to be filthy-  
  
 _The crying never stopped._  
  
He couldn't think as she cried, it wasn't loud but his mind just couldn't focus any longer on anything but it. It was horrible, and he wanted to make it stop. What was she crying over again?  
  
She was afraid that they would find her.  
  
But he waited to long, she had to now think he had something terrible about her, and he kinda does. But he doesn't want it to be true. Sighing he leaned back into her and hugged her again. He would feel her move like she wanted to push away but put no effort into it. Sans glanced out the window just to realize it wasn't even midday and he had upset her how many times already?  
  
Sans didn't know what to ask next, or if he did start talking would he just blurt out something that would make her even more upset? He passed the time by playing with her hair until she calmed down. Parting he could see her eyes were red and puffy and her face hot. He found himself not sure if he should try to confirm his suspicions or attempt to cheer her up. "Don't worry, and thank you for these." Is all he could think of.  
  
She would nod as she wiped her face off with her blanket. Then reach for her notepad. "thank you for being there for me i dont deserve it" Sans wondered if maybe that wasn't just her being upset, maybe she did deserve it? Had he not thought about this before? And he remembered it not mattering. Not like he hadn't done much worst if so. Thinking back to the papers he had and how much it upset her to write them. If she was a part of them, she is now helping the correct side. If he were to get upset then shouldn't he also be judged for how many monsters and humans he has killed before? And not all of them were swift deaths either.  
  
Taking her face into his face he made her look at him. He noticed how for a moment she focused on his missing eye and waited until she was staring straight back at him. "Listen to me, not matter how you got all this information. Or whatever comes out in the future, what you are doing now? Your helping us. I've done horrible things and I'm getting the feeling you have too but we need to work on what we can now."  
  
Her face would spread with horror. Sans figured he guessed right and started to accept that maybe she really did help in making the damned gas used on him. Quickly she would snap her face away him his face and reach for the notepad. "it was an accident"   
  
Sans was confused as she stopped writing, her pen was glued to the paper just waiting for her to continue but was shaking to much to doing so. After a moment she dropped her pen and moved her fingers into her hair to pull on it. Sans took her wrists and made her stop.  
  
Was he wrong? Who really is this woman?  
  
Sans noticed a knock on the door and he let her go and sat back on the chair before the open opened. "Good morning Darling how have you been doi-" A nurse wearing a pattern purple flowers scrub paused as she saw Sans. "I was a little confused when her chart said a skeleton might in in the room." Chuckling she walked closer and saw the woman. "Is everything ok?" The nurse looked nervous and the woman started writing. "yes talking about what happened" The nurse gave a weak smile. "Well looks like your in need of some air, lets go for your daily walk." Sans would perk up and the nurse spoke before he even got fully off the chair. "Best to stay here skeleton, I don't mean to accuse but it might bother some of the other patients." Sans relaxed back in the chair with a huff. Turning he watched as the nurse guided the woman off her bed and tightened the hospital gown she wore.   
  
As they turned out of the room Sans could hear her whisper. "Are you sure your alright?" He expected to not hear a reply, the woman was mute after all. Listening to them leave Sans rested on the arm of the chair letting his thoughts wander. What was an accident? How could an accident lead to were she ended up?  
  
it took Sans a while to come up with something. Figuring that whatever the accident was it affected Guardship pretty badly he guessed. That was a good thing right? It... could mean she was never with them? It really didn't disprove it either though. He almost felt back at square one.  
  
Reaching for her notepad he would flip to the last page and start doodling skulls and bones. It was something to relax his mind for the moment and wondered what she would like. He decided to add a few crappy flowers on the page as well. After having his fun he tossed it back where he found it. Turning to look at the door he didn't know when she would be back their.  
  
How would she react if he left? Maybe he should wait? Really he wouldn't be far he just wanted something to eat. It dawned on him to just leave a note. Starting a fresh page he left it open and easy to read before exiting the room. Vaguely he remembered the nurse not wanting him to walk around but he figured he was going to come see her a lot, so these damned people would just have to deal with it.  
  
Annoyingly he make it pretty far before turning back around. Remembering that he didn't have any money right now.  
  
Thankfully by the time Sans returned to the room she was already back inside. Standing at the window gazing out, but noticed him coming back in when the door opened. She gave him a puzzled look and held her hands like she was holding something. He could guess it was related to the dumb note. "I forgot that I didn't have any money on me." She would give an aired chuckle before pointing to her table. It had jello and yogurt but weren't they from last night? Could be she was offering them. Grabbing the jello he walked over and looked out the window with her, it was surprisingly good for being warm. Glancing down he noted what she was so interested in. Someone was trying to park a large transport van in a normal parking spot and failing hard to do so. Sans spoke up after watching them try three times. "I would literally just park somewhere else... wow." Much to Sans surprise they continued two more times before finally getting it. Sans found it was relaxing for the two to just stare out the window even though not much was happening, and only part of the parking lot was in view as well as the street. The woman would point out strange looking or strangely colored cars as they passed.  
  
Once in a while they would see someone walking from the car to the doors and mentally Sans tried to guess why they were coming inside. Most people looked normal so he guessed visiting. "So, did your doctor say how long your going to be here?"  The woman looked up from a bird outside and nodded, then moved to her notepad. She just placed it down on the bed to write. "depends but one or two weeks" Sans would look over her shoulder so she didn't need to bring it up to show him. "plus i need to find a place to go after"   
  
Sans perked up. "You can stay with me-" She would raise he hand making a stop signal. "i dont want to get between you and your brother" He folded his arms and scoffed. "I own the place he can just deal with it." He spoke annoyed as the thought of his brother pitching a fit.   
  
"id be uncomfortable if he was against it" She gave him a sad look and Sans rolled his eyes. "maybe ask him first but i dont want to assume i can just live there" She paused for a moment. "please ask him first and let me know" Moving to sit down on her bed she brought of the notepad to her lap in case she needed to write again. Sans frowned at her messaged but nodded to make her feel better. Tossing the empty jello cup in the garbage Sans wasn't able to satisfied his hunger with just the jello, but he could just deal with it. Glancing at her he noticed just how many pages where already filled up in the tiny notepad. He figured between using it to talk to nurses, doctors, and anyone else that cam in it would be pretty full.  "Say... would you be interested in learning sign? That way you wouldn't have to write everything."   
  
The woman frowned for a moment. "i love to but my hand isnt very flexible" Sans hummed and would gently reach for the hand in question. Once holding it he rubbed his thumb over the tight and misshaped scar down her palm. "That damned bastard." Sans couldn't help but whisper and the woman looked down at her hand sadly.  
  
Letting go he would make a few gestures slowly. "Try this." Watching her movements they were a little loose but he didn't think it would cause it to unreadable. "I think with some practice you could do it." She gave a relaxed smile and looked down at her hand. Messing around with her dexterity for a moment then look back up at him. Quickly turning her hands into a little heart and mouthed what he could only assume was thank you.  
  
He chuckled. "You got it upside down." He would make the same gesture then twist his hands down so his thumbs were up rather than his knuckles. Making an upside down human heart, or rather a monster heart. The both smiled while looking at each others hearts.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Stopping chapter here for no other reason than I think this scene is super cute to end on.))


	26. A Moment to Relax

Sans sat down on the bed with her as he warmed up his hands, having not signed in a while. "I am Sans." He both said and signed. "You?" He continued. "Nice to met you. Your name?" Then moved to some basic greets without speaking them. Finally he noticed what he said as the woman looked upset. "Shit." He would move a little closer and place a hand on her right as she wrote down on her notepad. "i dont have a name anymore" She paused. "just whor-" Sans would lift her hand from the paper and take the pen until she snapped out of her upset state. "Your not and we aren't going to be calling you that anymore."  
  
Playing with the pen for a moment a thought struck him. "Anymore? So you had a name?" Annoying the woman would take back her pen and giving him a look that reminded him that he really should stop taking her writing supplies away. "i dont want to talk about it" She wrote quickly and shoved the message at him. He got the hint but- She really needed a name or just something he could call her by at least. "What would you like to be called then?" He asked gently as he didn't want to get her any more upset than he already has today. "nothing" Sans grumbled at her and folded his arms. "Someone is going to have to call you something at some point. Lets figure out a name for you." She shook her head and brought her legs up to her chest to hug them.  
  
Sans felt his soul ache watching her, he hadn't seen her curl up like that since the room. But also he was annoyed and frustrated, it's not like she could go forever without one. "Then what if I picked a name? Would you be ok with that?" She glanced up for a moment thinking about it and then nodded. Sans hummed as he thought, the easiest would be some nickname. She would uncurl enough to bring her paper up on her legs to write.  
  
Then turned the notepad to cover her face. "only if it isnt dumb" He would get a chuckle out of that. "For someone that doesn't want one you are going to be picky huh?" He teased as he didn't mean it though he couldn't see her face to tell if she got that it was a joke. "Don't worry, I'll give it some thought and make sure if it's 'dumb' for you." Sans softly spoke and would help guide the woman out of her curled state. "How about we go over some basics ok?" She nodded and Sans took his time through letters, making sure she copied them a few times before moving onto the next. He noticed how focusing on learning she was able to cheer back up being distracted. Figuring that she wouldn't memorize stuff right away he already new he would have to go over this many times but didn't feel bothered by that.  
  
Next he moved to some simple words, like ones she used to write a lot. Yes, no, things like that. The two stopped as they heard a knock on the door shortly before a nurse walking in. The nurse would be wearing a white and yellow daisy scrub and pushing a tray of various vials and IV supplies. "Hello everyone, I see what the chart is talking about now." He smiled at Sans and he gave an awkward smile back. "Uh, thanks?"  
  
Once in the room the nurse started unpacking the basics and laying them out. "Your welcome." the nurse used a joking tone. "I have to take some blood work and change out your IV bag miss. If you could lay back down  we can get started, and mister skeleton could you move to the chair?" Sans awkwardly shuffled off the bed as the woman moved to the middle of the bed and relaxed. The nurse took the free space between the two and warned about the poke before doing, but finished it quickly. Sans really didn't watch.  
  
Glancing back when the nurse was changing the bag he noticed the vials where now filled with her blood, it was strange to look at. Focusing up he noticed how the nurse played with the adjuster on the IV, making it go from a faster drip to much slower. "Alright and we are all done." Quickly she gathered any trashed and moved out of the way between Sans and the woman.  
  
She would smile before leaving. "You two enjoy the rest of your day." Sans gave her a wave as she left and turned back to the woman. She shivered a bit and held her IV in her arm. "Whats wrong?" Sans asked a little concerned and she would write sloppy on the paper. "cold" Sans was a little confused then realized how weird humans were. Reaching up he felt the bag and he did noticed it wasn't cold cold but not exactly room temperature either.  
  
He would watch for a moment the woman frown and close her eyes as if trying to ignore how it felt to have the liquid entering her body. Sans bring her blanket up and make sure she was covered since she was shivering. From under the covers the woman adjusted the bed down and curled up.  Looking around Sans was able to fish out the remote to the tiny TV in the room, flipping through the limited channels and becoming painfully aware how boring human TV was. But he would watch it anyway boredly. Since she was resting there wasn't much he could do but just be there.  
  
After a while a knock echoed from the door and someone bringing food came in. They seemed unsure if they should talk not wanting to wake up the woman and Sans didn't know either. They stared at each other for a moment before Sans nudged her awake. Sitting back he watched her make and this or that kind of choice between food and waited until the food person left before looking at him.  
  
Sadly he could clearly remember that look on her face.  
  
"No I don't need any, you can eat your own food." He commented maybe a little bit more rude than he meant too. He would sign as he talked just so she could get a better feel for how it worked passively. Obviously to early to sign back the woman wrote back. "share? i cant eat all of this because my stomach is weak" Giving Sans a small pout. "Fine." He sounded like he was complaining but he was pretty damn hungry. Not like when he was captured but his bones just urged food because of the lack of magic as a share energy source. He waited a moment for her to sit up and pick out food before choosing himself. Not wanting to take anything nutritious from the woman and he just moved to the jello again. Already preparing himself to not be satisfied by the small portion.  
  
Glancing at the top it was sugar free and cold to the touch but he wasn't prepared for it for how good it would be. Her face twisted like she was holding back a laugh as he savored it, wasn't human hospital food crappy? This was the best jello he has very had. Looking up she was showing him a message. "later you try should breads" She paused to write more. "i like the banana one" Sans added that to his list of things to try, he didn't want to say he would learn something but maybe hospital food was worth a shot. Next she offered him the cup that she was eating from to try it. A fleeing thought passed of germs before mentally slapping himself, why would he even care about that after what the two of them went through. Holding it he realized it was a chicken noodle soup.  
  
Just trying the broth he was amazed. He would give it back quickly in fear of himself eating the whole thing. Looking up he noticed how the woman wanted to laugh at him, her face was spread with joy as he was blown away by such little things. But he could tell also that the food was amazing to her as well. He began to talk and sign. "Why the hell are amazing chefs working at a hospital and not a well respected restaurant?"  
  
She would shrug with a smile and start digging into the chicken soup, giving him the rest when she was full. Leaning back she stared out the window and sans did the same. "It can be pretty boring sitting in a bed all day?" Sans asked just to make conversation, she would nod.  
  
Looking back over to him for a moment before writing. "you dont have to stay if your bored" Sans would shake his head. "My brother dropped me off remember? Besides I don't mind relaxing for once."  She smiled at him before making some sign with her hands. He couldn't read it at all. Chuckling Sans sat back up and started signing as he talked. "Not sure what that meant but you want to try and practice more?" She nodded and showed him a note. "we can to pass the time"  
  
Smiling as he looked over at her, something felt special about being the first person to teach her to sign. They both laughed at her even messing up the baby steps of the process before trying again. It wasn't like learning from a teach or some strict school, it was just relaxing and fun. She would also try to push what she knew and combine things that made no sense, Sans found himself replying to such absurdities with ones of his own.  
  
The two messed around until they heard yet another knock on the door. "Dinner time~" A male came in with a food cart and stopped at the end of the bed. "Still on a soft diet? Here." He would hand the woman a mini menu and she just pointed to the chicken noodle again. As the male was clearing off her table for the food the woman wrote something down.  
  
"can he have something too?" Sans blinked reading that. "No I'm fine..." The woman pouted and quickly replied. "you barely ate all day!" The male would watch the skittish skeleton and the insistent woman for a moment before chuckling. "Well... I can't give him anything but-" He would raise the menu to her once more. "If your feeling better we can try adding more food for 'yourself' hun. Your chart does say that they want you to be steadily increasing your food intake."  
  
Sans suddenly had a menu shoved in his face and he took it with a chuckle while looking over to the excited woman. Glancing down at the option is was three soups and some soft food. Turning the menu over was a much detailed rundown of each item and lists of potential allergens and whatnot. Leaning forward Sans handed back the menu. "You have a beef soup?" He asked even though he saw it on the menu.  
  
The male nodded and pulled it out of the cart. "Sure do, though try to make her try some, I have to report what she takes so they might ask her about it or expect her to try heaver stuff again." He asked and gave the woman a wink. She pouted in response before writing carefully. "banana bread?"  
  
Lastly she was given a 'dessert' and the male left the room with a smile. Sans stood and placed his soup in front of her. "You heard him, at least try it." Opening the lid the two of them were hit with the savory smell of stewed beef and vegetables. It wasn't quite steaming but still visibly hot and each piece looked soft but not overcooked. Staring at it for a moment he was reminded of his confusion to why these cooks were working at a hospital. Sans almost forgot he was trying to give her some first in his hunger. Gently holding out a spoon to her. The woman would hold up her notepad. "its too heavy it will make my stomach hurt" Sans watched her pout before looking over to the dessert. "And that bread isn't? I think you can try a little, you know it isn't going to taste bad." He would push and she just gave a defeated smile before trying some.  
  
Once she was eating more than a taste Sans opened her chicken noodle and started eating it. She stopped and reached for it but Sans would move to the beef soup. "How about you eat one and I'll eat the other?" He moved to sit on the other end of the bed with her, having the table between the two of them. "your going to finish both anyway" She pouted and Sans just shrugged. "At least it won't go to waste."  
  
Sans found himself in a little bowl of heaven eating the food. Besides what Papyrus brought him it felt like the first real meal he has had in months. It tasted a hell of a lot better too. After a bit the woman did put down her bowl and reached for the bread, glancing over it wasn't quite finished off and Sans gave her a look for it. Having her hand on the bread already she would just start inching it slowly towards her on the table without breaking eye contact. He couldn't help but laugh at her as she snatched it away like a child trying to steal food. "You really should try to finish your food before moving onto dessert. With a grumpy look the woman unwrapped the bread and took a big bite still without breaking her stare at him. "Fine, but your not getting away with it without giving me a piece." He teased and she pretended to deeply think it over before handing him a piece of it.  
  
Looking down it was a decent size chuck of thick yellow dessert like bread complete with some type of nuts on the top of the crust. Biting into it he frozen for a moment, it was... really good. Not quite Grillby good as it didn't have that spark of magic the crazed elemental put into his deserts but damn. The texture was soft and dense but not dry at all.  
  
Glancing back up the woman only ate half of it before getting full and laying back. Under the table her legs stretched out and bumped him for a moment before disappearing back towards her. "Getting tired?" He questioned and she nodded and closed her eyes. Sans looked out the window to the sun starting to set and realized that he had been here almost a full day now. Getting off her bed and walking over to the window Sans watched the cars starting to leave slowly. But as it got later and later it would become a steady stream of people making Sans realize it was getting close to the end of visiting hours.  
  
Dully he wondered where his brother was, or rather what kind of shitty solution him and Undyne would come up with to fix him. He couldn't really bring himself to be excited after what happened the first time. Sans could recalled telling the woman that he had the best doctor he possible could but- did he even trust her? Best felt like only in this case. And he knew that his brother just kept going to the damned fish because they were friends. But really who else in the monster kingdom would be better? Sure plenty of monster could heal, hell he already got a healing session from Asgore.  
  
But that wasn't really his problem, it was his locked magic. Holding up his hand he could see the dancing colors of the sunset on it, but none of those colors were his magic. It was like he HAD magic but couldn't control it? He sure as hell couldn't summon it. It was a weird and awful feeling to be alive yet not be able to use magic. He was one of the best, it came easier to him than breathing-  
  
Glancing behind him he heard her breathing harder than normal. Her face was twisted lightly as if in pain but she was still asleep. Walking back over he took her hand and gently squeezed it. Debating if he should wake her up, it was clear that she was having a nightmare but what if she wasn't? Maybe she was in pain for real?  
  
As he fussed about it for a moment she would just wake up anyway. Her eyes sharp in a panic before relaxing back down. "Nightmare?" He asked and she took a moment to nod. "Did you want to stay or a bit longer or try to sleep again?" Without moving herself up she would point to her notepad. Handing it to her he gently she would wrote sloppy with tired hands. "im tired but i dont want to have that dream again" Sans read it and sighed. "Again?" She nodded but didn't go to explain and Sans knew that she had plenty enough nightmare fuel in that brain of hers to be getting nightmares.  
  
Sans sighed and glanced back at the window. "My brother will be picking me up soon, anything I can do in the meantime?" Watching her eyes as he asked Sans could tell that she was looking at some far off memory, and a painful one at that.  And for a moment he wondered if she ever dealt with anything he goes through with the hallucination, hysteria or whatever was wrong with him. He doubted it, because he was just losing his mind and he couldn't imagine her losing it as well.  
  
Finally she snapped out of it and tried to give him a smile, it didn't really work. "can you just stay with me until i sleep again?" She wrote carefully and Sans nodded while watching her move the bed to a sitting position. Then moving to give him enough room to sit next to her, he quickly realized this was familiar when she leaned against his shoulder. The two holding a hand together. Closing his eyes he could listen to her relax and soon enough how her breathing changed when she finally was asleep. Without moving he glanced down at her and saw her face at peace which made him wonder if he was the reason or if it was just having someone close to her? On that same note he realized that he slept well around her as well. He couldn't quite put an asnwer on himself for that either.  
  
There was a short knock on the door before a nurse poked her head in, but before she could say anything she noticed the two 'asleep' and exited. A second later the light was turned off. Looking up he had forgotten that lightly could be turned off, they never turned off when he was captured. Sighing at the memory Sans realized the painkiller was wearing off slowly and he was getting the unwelcoming pain on his cracked and broken bones starting to washing over him. Closing his eyes he leaned into her a bit and gently rubbed her hand in his. Finding it helpful to focus on her rather than the progressively growing pain. Focusing himself to relax he tried to fall back asleep-  
  
Sudden the sound of magic filled the room and Sans looked to see his brother. "Sorry I'm late I just-" He paused to see Sans and the woman leaning against each other while sitting on the bed. Sans gave his brother a weak smile but papyrus just froze for a moment, not giving an expression. Finally after staring at each other Papyrus gave his brother a smile that was somewhere between pain but gentle, but it didn't seemed forced just confused maybe? "Ready?" He asked and Sans nodded but sitting up was strenuous from the pain and his brother quietly walked around the bed to pick up Sans.  
  
Without a word the two teleported away.


	27. Only a Observer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Papyrus POV at the end.))

The two brothers would teleport into Undyne's lab. Appearing right in front of the crappy couch, gently Sans was placed down by his brother and handed a pill bottle. "Here, take one for now-" Papyrus offered and was surprised when Sans leaned back and swallowed a pill dry. He wasn't in the mood to wait for water as his pain was quickly getting worst. Looking in the bottle it had about ten left? Most likely nine now that he just took one. Now he just had to wait for it to take effect. Leaning back Sans closed his eyes to relax but listened to his brother shifting something around before sitting next to him. "Hey Sans." He called out and Sans would open his eye to see some sort of needle and vial combo. Flinching Sans was suddenly in a lot of pain as his body screamed at him to run away. His eye socket starting to pound in pain. "Hey hey calm down, Undyne needs a sample so she can test out something without hurting you again." Sans would still be on high alert but nod. "So your going to use that for... what now?" He asked with a stressed out tone.  
  
Papyrus sighed and set down the device on his lap. "Me and Undyne have been going through everything we can think of all day to figure out a safer way to use the magic booster without... you know happening again. But no matter how sure the two of us think we are, we still want to test it because neither of us want to risk your life like that again Sans." He would bring up the vial part of the strange thing his brother had. "So Undyne suggested getting a small sample... hell even a drop of magic to test our ideas on." He trailed off for a moment. "She wants me to do it since Undyne thinks that several things about herself set off your hysteria." Sans noticed his brother looking sad over this.  
  
Glancing back down at the thing it was like a needle he had seen at the human hospital but bigger, and the vial looked similar too but with some sort of seal that flowed with a light blue magic. Then looking back up to his brother with a glare. "It's not going in my damned skull or soul got it?" He demanded and Papyrus smiled nervously as he was happy his brother wasn't protesting but his attitude still put the taller skeleton on edge. "Yeah I figured, was planning on using your wrist or foot. Some place where a lot of bones meet because of how your magic is gather there, to hold everything together." Sans nodded and debated for a moment before offering his wrist. "And don't worry I'm not going to pierce your bone-" Sans let out a relief sigh. "-heh, just going between them." Papyrus moved closer and took his brothers hand. Sans just closed his eyes as he felt something jammed between the soft spot between his wrist, it would made him want to jerk away. It was somewhat painful but he was already going through worst pain with his ribs and eye that he could just ignore it. After a few moments it was pulled out and Sans brought his hand close to himself and started rubbing the sore spot. Papyrus took a second to look at the vial and Sans got a glimpse of the dull color of his magic inside. Somehow it made Sans feel sick to see his magic so weak.  
  
Closing off the seal Papyrus stood up. "I'll be back in a sec." And teleported away. Sans took the moment to lay down fully on the couch and nurse his wrist, it felt weird to move it as if they bones weren't in the correct position or dislocated. But after playing with it the feeling went away. Quickly his brother returned and looked down at Sans. "You feel that crappy huh?" Papyrus questioned and Sans just gave a grunt as a reply. Papyrus shifted awkwardly for a moment before speaking again. "Alphys wants to come down to see you, to talk about Guardship... if that's ok?" He questioned and Sans didn't move for a moment as he really didn't want to do anything until the painkiller fully took effect. But then he remembered the papers he had.  
  
Rolling over painfully Sans handed his brother two folded sheets. "Here is everything... now just let me sleep." Papyrus would be nervously confused but take the sheets and glancing at them. Sans closed his eyes and could only imagine his brothers expression. "...this isn't your handwriting-" He would question but Sans snapped back. "Let me sleep, I'm in pain." Though he knew his brother would pick up on that instantly. But what could he even say to his brother? He felt like no matter what he did end up saying Papyrus was going to think the worst of her for having all that information, just like he did.  
  
"We will talk later then." And Sans could hear his brother teleporting away.  
  
Resting his eyes Sans laid there trying to sleep but couldn't get comfortable. Of course it was because of pain but also little things? It was a crappy couch, he had no pillow or blanket but was a little annoyed at himself for whining about simple little things. Flipping to his side Sans held onto his ribs and curled his body a little. He vaguely thought about how this is just what he didn't want last night. To be in pain and alone, but it wasn't as bad this time. And he was out of it earlier because of the... 'hysteria' he remembered. Slowly he thought about how well he slept next to someone. It crossed his mind that it might just be her but he also thought to himself it would be with anyone right? Really it made sense to want someone to keep watch while a ...weaker monster slept. Quickly disliking that idea and sit up carefully, Sans looked out to the messy lab and wondered where the others were. Though he doubted seeing Napstaton sadly, he wouldn't mind listening to some of his music right about now.  
  
It was a bit before Sans heard a thunderous stomping from somewhere in the lab and he didn't have to guess who. It would only be a few moments before Alphys was running up to him and even quicker for her to hovering over him. He just glared up at the lizard. "Sans! I can't believe you had that much information! We are going tonight before it all goes cold!" She would speak without her mask on and Sans got an up close and personal view of those sharp teeth. Her tail whipped back and forth like an excited dog.  
  
Sans deflated. "Alphys... I'm in no condition to go." He spoke sadly but was annoyed at himself. Alphys paused her excited body moments before realizing what he said and continued. "Oh! We as in the guard and your brother, Undyne wants you with her on the radio and screens as backup so we need to get you there quickly and then the rest of us can get set up."  Sans nodded and started to get up slowly but his bones creaked and rattled doing so. Alphys gave him only a moment before picking him up. Roughly he was carried and hissed in pain but Alphys paid no attention to it. He held onto her shirt as they bounced back and forth when Alphys was running through the lab at top speeds. Skidding to a stop Sans found himself placed in a chair next to Undyne. "Hey Sans, looking better already." The fish spoke calmly and he draped himself over the table and groaned in pain loudly. Undyne would just set a headset next to him and turn to Alphys. "Better get ready hunnie." Alphys nodded and ran off again.  
  
Undyne looked back down to Sans. "Still in that much pain? Maybe I should adjust the concentration of the pills." She spoke with a smile and Sans glance up to see her not giving any shit to just got awful he felt, hell she seemed entertained or enjoying the sight. "Sooo-" Undyne moved over to start turning on extreme monitors. "Papyrus told me not to ask yet about how you got that information weirdly, but if you got anything else before we start I would say it now before everyone gets teleported over." Sans looked at the headset in front of them and weakly placed it on. "Nothing unless you count wanting to watch a certain few bastards maimed." Undyne would let out a loud snort. "Trust me Alpyhs is going with them, it would be easier to point out who not kill." She explained and Sans tired to get conformable in his seat even if he was in pain and exhausted. Sans looked up as each monitor turned on at the same time, flashing with connecting symbols in unison. Undyne plopped back down in the main seat and adjusted her own headset. "Alright! Now everyone should be about ready and we can start." She turned to Sans and leaned in. "Aren't you excited?! You can watch as that damned place burns to the ground!"  
  
Sans nodded and looking back as the screens connected displaying various names with mic symbols on them he wondered... How did he feel? Right now he just wanted it to be over with so he could move past it, so he could finally rest or just get some sleep. Maybe he would be more excited if he had his magic? If he was out there leading his guard and not Alphys? Part of him was worried, some of the most important monsters to him where about to enter that hellhole. But they had magic, they had a way of defending themselves. Plus there was going to be a whole guard working together.  
  
Papyrus mic flashed. "All ready for teleport." It would echo through the static mic and Undyne would bring her keyboard closer and start typing. "Confirmed. Alright everyone we have two goals, hack into the mainframe computer and to torch very damned human and finally the building down to the ground." Undyne spoke back while buzzing with excitement. Sans felt himself smile as he thought about that building on fire. In fact he could think of a few bastards he would kick into said fire.  
  
Suddenly Undyne phone would ring and almost dropping it she managed to asnwer it. Straightening her back and looking nervous. Sans listened to what sounded like the Queens regal tone. "Yes, thank you. We will, thank you Toriel." She hung up and screamed loudly into the mic. "WE GOT THE QUEENS GO AHEAD, BURN THOSE BASTARDS TO THE GROUND!!" Sans leaned away from her with wide sockets as she screamed. Various mics on the screens flashed with cheers from guards. Papyrus would speak once the others calmed down. "No evidence?" He chuckled through his mic and Undyne smirked. "Confirmed."  
  
Sans watched as he wondered what he was here for, just to watch? He almost didn't want to speak into his own mic, his weak voice might distract from the mission. Did all of the guard even know about him yet? Papyrus voice echoed again. "On Location, taking back entrance and splitting into groups." Undyne gave a confirmed and tapped the desk next to her keyboard excited. Sans turned his mic off for a moment. "So you do all this without visuals?" He asked and Undyne smiled before pausing her mic. "For now yes, Paps has the equipment that I would normally give you. Once he finds the main computer he should be able to set me up with security footage and start the backlog transfer." Sans nodded mostly understanding. The two of them flinched as every mic went dark and each had lost connection over the names. Undyne flipped her mic back on. "Hey! Report back, everyone alright??" The two stared at the screens as a tense moment past before Alphys' mic turned back on. They could hear some patting noise. "Yeah we all just tripped a gas bomb. They know we are here though." Alphys mic echoed as you could hear various other people patting off their own mics as well. Slowly each one came back online. Undyne confirmed with her girlfriend before noticing Sans.  
  
He was staring at the screens with a light fear and confusion. "How are they ok after getting gassed??" He would glance over to Undyne for answers. She smiled and paused her mic. "Right you haven't seen them yet. Everyone has a suit on to protect them but I haven't found a way to keep the mics safe. They get clogged each time but thankfully don't break." The fish explained and Sans nodded. As the groups split up they watched various mics go out and come back, Undyne confirming they were ok each time. Also as the groups wandered it was noted how empty the place was. "Ma'am. We have another broken computer!" One of the guards reported and Undyne sighed. "Confirmed. If you see anything that can be salvaged take it with you." She spoke and Sans thought about how long it had been since he left the place. It didn't feel like that long but it was plenty of time for them to abandon the building. "Maybe we did wait too long..." Sans spoke depressed and Undyne placed a hand on his shoulder. "Nah, we will scrap anything useful out of there don't worry."  
  
Sans gave the fish a half smile but wondered if he should have pushed the woman he was with soon for information. They two of them were just so... damaged that they needed to focus on not dying... right?  
  
"Found a laptop only mildly broken!" A voice echoed and Papyrus answered quickly. "Bring it to the main computer when we get to it." The guard confirmed quickly and the lines went quiet again. Soon enough the only thing that was said was each guard confirming an area was cleared. Between the group getting gas bombed from traps there was nothing going on. "Maybe they jumped ship?" Undyne asked herself. The two was losing hope at getting a fiery revenge for now. "Area clear- " Papyrus mic lit up and the two waited for a moment before Undyne answered. "Paps reconfirm, everything alright?" She spoke calmly but Sans could tell she was nervous, which just made him nervous. Which was even worst when his brother didn't reply.  
  
Sans turned his mic on and gestured to Undyne, after a few button presses all the mics but Papyrus' went dark. "Hey papyrus, everything ok?" He asked in a worried tone. But his brother still didn't reply. "PAPYRUS!" He screamed and even Undyne jumped at the loud noise. Instantly a slamming noise screeched in the mic then quietly followed his brother voice. "I'm fine, area cleared. Confirmed." Undyne switched back to her own mic. "You sure? Need me to send someone?"  
  
Papyrus huffed and you could hear him running. "I'm fine." The two glanced at each other worried but some of the mics that were darkened were vaguely lighting and Undyne switched back to all of them. "Reconfirm?" Undyne asked and Alphys spoke up. "Found the central computer... and it's trashed. Papyrus gonna need you on this one." Then the lizard would give the location for his brother to teleport too. After some swears and fumbling from his brother's mic Sans watched as Undyne's screens lit up with the video footage of the whole building. Each guard wandering around in dark black outfits against the almost white walls-  
  
_He could see the shadows searching, but unable to find him._  
  
Slapping himself Sans scared Undyne for a moment but he needed to stay focused. Looking up he could see where his brother was, sitting in a room with various computer parts around him. It looked like he was using a laptop for the screen and some mismatched keyboard all hooked into the tower of the main computer. Every part of the main computer looked destroyed and he was surprised that it was even turning on. "Got enough of it on Undyne, Going to start the backlog transfer." She nodded at the screen and flipped one of the screens to the file transfer. It scrolled quickly with various file names and Sans could make out a lot of monster and gas titles. Undyne and Papyrus would exchange passwords that the woman wrote down earlier when his brother hit any sort of snag.  
  
Looking over to the footage he noticed how his room wasn't shown and wondered if that camera was ever on in the first place. The thought of it never had been on made whatever magic lift in his bones boil. "I can't believe how much they left..." Undyne gasped as she was still watching the file transfer. Sans only glanced at her for a moment before looking over the screens again. He noticed a cluster of people in one of the far corners of the base, at first he figured it was just monsters in there protective gear but they didn't move around.  
  
Slapping Undyne and pointing up he got her attention and her eyes widen. "Got eyes on them! East side section eight!" She shouted and nearly half the guard ran in that direction lead by Alphys. Papyrus and a few guards stayed as the transfer was still going on. The two watched as the forces of the royal guard came crashing down on the hiding humans. For a moment a white gas bomb went off and no one could see anything. But between the fog of gas one could make out sharp flashes and magic. "Alphys!" Undyne screamed and it took a moment for her to reply. The moment her mic turned on the speakers blasted with gunshots and the roaring cries of humans and monsters fighting in the white fog. "Under heavy gunfire!" Her mic turned back off and it went dark as the video footage showed another huge burst of white covering everything.  
  
Undyne slammed her fist down. "Papyrus! Get in there!" He would confirm quickly and teleport into a fray. Sans felt himself sweating as he watched his very own brother appear in the fight and his mic instantly die. Tips of bones would poke out from the fog as he defended himself from gunfire.  
  
_He could feel the chaos of that day, his brother turning back to hold off guard as he ran forward-_  
  
Sans stood up so quickly his chair knocked over as he stared at the screen with his brother fighting. Suddenly a gaster blast would fire and the fog disappeared into a vortex around the magic beam. The two could see multiple dead humans scattered in the blasters wake with blood splattered all over those white walls. The group rushed forward and quickly took over the chock point, each monster ripping through the lives of those left behind. Undyne cheered at the bloodbath and soon did the rest of the guard. Alphys piped up cheerfully. "Area Cleared." Her tone was prideful. Undyne gave a little clap. "Awesome, just clear the rest of the building and we will be set to fire it to the ground."  
  
Papyrus could be seen teleporting back to the main computer and checking on the transfer. "Looks like that's all it's got Undyne." She would confirm and check over the files. "This base barely had anyone... they must have ran before we got here? But why didn't all of them flee?" Papyrus spoke into his mic and Undyne shrugged. "We know they have more bases, we will find them." She confirmed with Papyrus and Sans kept his eyes glued to the footage. Watching he found that some guards came across a storage room filled with various tanks. He almost chocked as he cleared remembered the colors listed on them as the one those bastards used before. He slapped Undyne again and signed to her quickly. "they used those on me" She looked continued as to why Sans didn't just say anything but he felt the air get trapped within himself at the thought and sight of those. Quickly she listed the room they were in and commanded that they be brought and not destroyed.  Undyne moved to pick up the knock over chair and gently pushed Sans to sit. "Just relax it's almost over..." She spoke nervous as she wasn't too sure what to do. Sans took the seat and held his head shaking, trying not to picture the feeling of that grainy smoke. Alphys voice boomed from her mic which just made Sans' head pound. "ALL CLEAR, READY TO BURN THIS BITCH!!" Various voiced echoed in the distance of her mic. Undyne joyfully confirmed and quickly he watched as each video footage went up in the flames as they spread and the room quickly turn black from smoke before fully disconnecting.  
  
Sans felt... hallow watching everything go up in smoke. He wanted to be happy like everyone else but something felt off. He couldn't tell if that feeling was about him or something else? He knew that he was exhausted so that could be it... but also it maybe because this wasn't the end? He heard them mention that they were more buildings, that most of those bastards were gone by the time the guard showed up. Is that what it was? Was that making him feel off?  
  
With all the video footage gone the screens returned to symbols of mics and names. "Returning to decontamination." Papyrus' voice echoed and he could hear the sound of a mass teleport before the mic died. Undyne would get up quickly and start putting on some sort of black gear. "I've got to go met them down there Sans to get them all cleaned off. Not point in protective gear if they inhale it while taking it all off." She turned to give him a smile. "I'll be back soon!" Then pulled the mask over her head and ran off.  
  
Once she left Sans moved over to the rerouting computer and started browsing through the files. A lot of it was a bit too complicated for him to understand at the moment but it just... blew his mind how much was solely based on how to quickly kill monsters. Scrolling past all of it quickly he found various outlines how many different places there aid was given to human cites. Opening it these old files they didn't mention monsters at all. Checking the creation date it was from before they all came out form the underground. He laughed to himself going through these files and he vaguely remembered these bastards were just some humanitarian group before all this? What changed? Did spooky scary monsters pop out of the ground and suddenly they went from saving lives to murdering them? He found it even more assuming to imagine them screaming how monsters aren't people. No shit but that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be surface side.  
  
It was weird to think how many people in this group might have been green souled. How they turned that kindness into hate. Maybe they convinced themselves that monsters were lesser or something. Closing his eyes he tried to imagine what a green soul would look like corrupted.  
  
_He could see a green flash, it cried and screamed in guilt, it never stopped crying._  
  
Sans gasped loudly and held his hand over his rib cage where his own soul would be. That was it! That woman WAS a part of the Guardship. Then something happened, and 'accident' as she put it. Then was captured right? Tortured and-  
  
He put his hands over his eye sockets. What the hell did she do? Did she cause some sort of shift in Guardship? Or was this because of the shift that happened when monsters appeared? What did she do that caused her punish to be starved and raped and not just outright killed? It felt like his skull was spinning and Sans laid his head down on the table.  
  
He became overly aware of the sounds of the various computers running around him and easily picked up when his brother teleported into the room. "Hey Sans! We did it-" He paused to see his brother slumped on the table. "That tired? don't blame you, it's almost morning and all of us are exhausted too." Sans could feel a hand on his back that rubbed gently. Looking up Sans could tell that he was giving his brother a miserable look. And Papyrus paused to stare conflicted for a moment at Sans. "You... you look miserable-" Sans snorted. "when your away from her... do you want to rest up with her then we can- Go over everything?" Sans froze as his brother talked, confused on why he was so kind about her now. Did he look that bad? Also DID he want to see her? Would he just upset her bring all this up? Should he wait to do so?  
  
His brother must have noticed his confused and took a hold of Sans gently. "I get it... you two must have been close in there. It's ok." He comforted Sans before teleporting back to the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus ran down several long hallways and kicking open each door to see if any humans were hiding inside. He was greeted time and time again by chains and the remains of monster dust. Finally he rushed down a long hallway with a single door at the end, for some reason it seemed to be labeled for some important reason. Weirdly he noted it was already opened. Rushing inside he didn't sense any souls and turned on his mic to confirm. "Area clear-" He paused as something caught his eyes. Human blood splattered across the walls and floor near the chains, and this time only a small amount of monster dust covered them. No where enough for a full monster but maybe one that was partly dying? In his mind flashed the imagines that Guardship had sent to taunt him.
> 
> He quickly realized that he was in the very same room. Getting closer Papyrus put his hand into the dust and quickly realized it wasn't the same as the dust when a monster dies but bone dust. Looking to the walls of the corner he was in papyrus realized that they were damaged by someone thrashing around or at least assumed so. Hearing something move he snapped around to see the camera on the ceiling. Papyrus felt his soul drop as he realized what his brother might have felt being chained in this spot only to stare up at that camera day in and day out. 
> 
> In a rage Papyrus sent a bone into the camera, watching it spark and short out as he could suddenly heard Sans in his ear. Papyrus was being screamed at to check in. "I'm fine, area cleared. Confirmed." He spoke stoically and looked back down to the blood all over the room. Figuring it must have been that mute woman's blood. Turning he started a slow pace but soon was running hard out of the room. He could barely hear someone trying to get a hold of him again over the mic. "I'm fine." He spoke quickly and tired to refocus on the mission. But it was hard not to imagine his own brother and that woman getting beaten together in that damned room.


	28. Fraud

The two skeletons appeared in the familiar hospital room only to scare the hell out of a brightly dressed nurse and the woman. Causing water to be spilled and pills to fly. The two awkwardly stared as the woman rushed to clean up the mess. "Sorry... just dropping off my brother to visit." Papyrus awkwardly whispered and let Sans down. Sans nodded wobbled his way over to the bed to help in the pill search. "Here is one." He handed a pill he found on the floor. After a moment they got settled and the nurse made sure everything was accounted for.   
  
Sans turned to his brother and gave a small smile. "Thanks." Papyrus looked to the side awkwardly. "It's no problem." Then quickly teleported away. The nurse would perk up. "My god... the chart wasn't lying when it said skeletons might appear." She shook her head. "You two are the talk of the ward I swear." She smiled and gave a pat to Sans. "Don't worry it's all good talk." Sans the woman gave each other an awkward stare before chuckling. "Thanks I guess." Sans spoke and waved the nurse off as she finished up.   
  
He already felt a little cheered up after the awkward exchange and sat down on the woman's bed. "How are you feeling today?" Sans asked and the woman would try to sign Yes but it was a bit off.  Sans moved his down hands as he talked. "Good?" And she would nod in response. Sighing he took a moment to collect his thoughts. She would hold up her notepad. "you weren't gone long." Looking over the message he was reminded that it had only been overnight that the mission happened. That she must have slept through all of it after he left, it also reminded him that he had not slept. Yawning at the reminder he tried to refocus his thought. "A lot happened, let me tell you about it."  
  
She would get comfortable not sure what story Sans was about to tell and he would do the same. "The royal guard went after that hellhole we escaped from." Sans didn't like the way she tensed up, and took her hand gently to rub her scared palm. "It went extremely well, we didn't lose any monsters and were able to get a lot of information from the codes you gave us. Thank you." She paused and looked guilty which Sans wasn't sure how to take that look. "you went with them?" She held up and Sans faked a smile. "Wish I did, but I'm in no condition to do so. I just watched with Undyne... that fish monster as she radioed the team during it." The woman paused to think but Sans continued. "But I want to say it's your mapping and codes that got everyone through their quickly and safety. Well besides you know... those bastards." He trailed off finally finding himself a little happy about the deaths, even if just a little. "i figured" She held up and Sans nodded.  
  
Pointing down to her notepad Sans spoke. "I heard that they are several more of these types of places. I know if might be a stretch but... if you have anything else on them?" The woman nodded to Sans' question and closed her eyes. He watched her face twist with some sort of conflicted expression. Sighing he wondered if her reactions was because her soul hurt from this? Thinking back Sans felt deep in his bones that she must be a green soul.  He could figure that she might even be blaming herself for causing even more death... of humans at least. Sans debated if they were even humans in his own eyes.  
  
Finally the woman started to write. Sans idly watched her fill out page after page of each different location, various codes, sometimes names, small notes. "Your doing the right thing." He tried to comfort her but she was either too distracted or ignoring him. Awkwardly he just read over the pages as she handed them to him. After getting handed yet another page he looked up at the sound of her getting upset. She was staring down at the last page of her notepad completely full of drawings. The imagines gave her a smile but looked up at him with upset eyes.  
  
He would give her a light hug and stand up. "Let me go grab you some more paper ok?" She nodded and would quietly trace the tiny drawings with her fingertips in the notepad. Quickly making his way out of the room he would talk to various smiling nurses as they ran him around from desk to desk searching for a spare notepad. He would happily return with one, excited to give her a way to speak again. She would try and sign a thank you and while Sans was happy that he could understand it needed correcting. Quickly he repeated what she meant to sign quickly and slowly so she could hopefully get it better.  
  
After a little hand waving the woman went back to writing down the rest of what she could think of on the group. Glancing through it was hard for him to wrap his head around so just pocketed it for now. It did make him wonder how high of a ranking she had to have been before everything went sour. Frowning he realized that the urge to talk about what happened to her resurfaced in his mind. But in his soul he felt he should give it more time, hell she might even tell him one day.  As long as they could move forward it didn't matter right? The woman relaxed back while nursing a headache by rubbing her forehead and eyes and Sans took a moment to look out the window of the bright day.  
  
Quietly he heard the door open without a knock to see a skittish nurse in a dark navy blue scrub. But coming inside he noticed her freeze seeing him. "Haha... didn't know you would have visitors Miss. Let alone a monster." She spoke nervous and Sans... felt nervous as well. She wasn't cheerful like the rest of the staff. Looking down she had brought a new IV bag and medicine for it. He could figure out that maybe she was new but he decided to still question her. "What can we help you with ma'am?"  
  
She seemed annoyed as it really was obvious she didn't try to hide it. "I'm just here to change out her IV bag and adjust her medicine, we got her blood work back and we saw enough of an improvement to adjust it." She spoke happily but her hands looked clammy as she worked on setting up the bag. Sans looked over to the woman and she shrugged. "Surprised the doctor didn't come in yet to tell us that." He only guessed if the doctor had come in or not. The nurse looked annoyed. "Don't worry I have the order form right here." She would hand Sans a stack of papers listing blood results and various things he didn't understand at all. While Sans was reviewing the paper the nurse moved and changed out the bag, putting the flow to a stop. The woman closed her eyes not excited for the feeling of the cold liquid about to enter her body.  
  
Finally Sans glanced up to see the nurse placing a bottle on the side attachment of the IV bag. The clear liquid quickly raced through the line but shifting his eyes over to the bag itself it wasn't flowing. Something suddenly clicked as completely wrong.  
  
Grabbing the line he would twist it so the liquid couldn't move any further. The Nurse snapped at him. "Hey let go! Are you trying to mess up her IV!?" Sans would stand in her face before using his free hand to point to the IV bag. "Your the one not diluting it! Your trying to overdose her or something?!" He screamed back and the nurse shoved him roughly, Sans almost fell into the chair near her bed but missed. His body would awkwardly fall to the floor as his rib cage screamed in pain. Looking up he saw the woman frozen in panic looking at him to make sure he was ok and the nurse rushing to finish the setup of the IV. Reaching up from the floor Sans grabbed the IV and pulled as hard as he could. Ripping it out of the woman's arm as a few spots of blood fell and she held her arm in pain. Sans could hear that awful aired scream from the woman as he pushed himself up from the floor and tackled the nurse into a wall in rage. The nurse gasped in shock and the two struggled against each other.  
  
Suddenly there was a small knock on the door as another nurse wearing a bright pink heart scrub came in. She was pushing a cart with an IV bag. The two stared at each other for a moment before Sans realized that this new woman was the REAL nurse. He felt himself being shoved as the fake he was attacking dashed for the door. "STOP HER!" He screamed in a panic and ran after the fraud, each of them shoving the real nurse of the way. Storming through the hallways people were only able to gasp or stand watching as the fake nurse dashed pasted them. Sans followed in hot pursuit behind her until she grabbed some doctor and shoved them into the skeleton. The two stumbled for a moment and Sans just raced back up without checking the doctor.  
  
Running through the long hallway Sans felt like he was starting to hallucinate but gritting his teeth and tried to focus the best he could. He would finally spot her again at the bottom of a staircase leading to the main entrance. Quickly he hopped the railing and jumped it only to land extremely painfully on his feet. In too much of a rage he ignored it and grabbed the fake nurse. "HELP A MONSTER IS ATTACKING ME!!" She screamed out and next thing Sans knew was he was getting pulled off by the hospital security that was station at the front door.  Only catching a glimpse of the bitch running out of the front doors as he tackled and held to the ground.  
  
 _He could feel hands reach out, holding him to the ground. They piled on him one after another before completely covering him in shadows._  
  
A strained voice shouted out. "Let him go it's not!" It strained to speak after running.  
  
 _The weight of them felt like he was being crushed between shadows and void._  
  
"That nurse was a fake she just tried to poison a patient!, someone called the police!"   
  
_The pressure made his bones creak and he felt like he was going to die._  
  
"Get off of him!"  
  
 _But suddenly the pressure lifted off of him, he could see a dark blue soul reaching for him._  
  
Sans' eyes refocused as he was looking up at the face of that first nurse he shoved trying to chase the fraud. She was breathing hard from running and red in the face. Her voice was controlled and soft. "Just breath, ok?" She spoke to him and Sans nodded and held onto her as his bones rattled in pain. A crowd had gather and the security were blocking off people from looking. Sans gasped as he realized and looked up. "What about her-" He spoke gasped as he felt himself having a hard time breathing. She would calming breath for him to follow as she spoke. "She is going to be ok, so are you. Just breath." it would be a few minutes as Sans sat on the floor with the nurse and tried to relax.  
  
But really? His soul was pounding hard, someone just tried to poison her! It wasn't hard to guess who would want to do that. But how did they even know where she was?? Sans had a vague idea just how far the building they escaped from was from here. Then he remembered how empty the building was, were bet that they already on their way here when the guard attacked last night? Thinking back to the papers he had, if he had waited any longer... if papyrus didn't return him this morning. They wouldn't have lost all the information that they got and-  
  
-she would be dead right?  
  
Trying to stand the nurse at first didn't let him but found it easier to just help him up. "Let me go back to her." Sans spoke weakly and the nurse shock her head. "We need to wait to see if your ok, you got hurt by all that-" She paused as Sans glared at her. "Not a damned person in this human hospital knows how to check that, we are wasting time just making me sit here for help." He could tell the nurse was taken aback and she fought in her mind with the idea before nodding.  
  
The two would be escorted back up by the very guards that tackled Sans to the ground. At this point he was in so much pain and stressed he could barely see them as anything but shadows surrounding him. But holding into the pink nurse with the dark blue soul he managed to ignore it long enough to get back to the woman's room. It was crowded as everyone in the ward was trying to see what had happened and Sans weakly but in a rude fashion shoved them aside to get in. Once inside he saw a few nurse trying to get close to the woman who was hiding on the floor in the corner of the room. She was terrified and crying, not letting anyone one get close enough to try and calm her down. " **Move**." Sans commanded and walked right over to the woman. She looked up at him with tears and he could almost hear her fear.  
  
 _They found me._  
  
Dropping to his knees the two embraced. "I'm sorry." Sans whispered, soon finding himself repeating it as he held tightly onto her. She would grasp him as tightly as she could while crying as some type of aired wail chocked out of her. Sans could sense some nurses moving extremely close and he glared at them with his one eye. " **Get Out**." They flinched but started to move a little closer. "We just need to make sure she is ok?! She might still be poison-" Sans ignored their plea's as he tried summon some magic to his broken eye.  
  
He could feel like something glowed out and scatter out from the exposed parts of his skulls strangely. Seeing this the few nurses that were brave enough to be in the room now backed out quickly. Glancing in from the open door. " **OUT!** " Sans screamed and listened to the door slam shut, he could even feel the woman flinch at him yelling. Sighing  he placed his forehead against hers for a moment. She was still shaking like a leaf and crying, and the thought of him not pulling out that damned IV in time plagued him.  
  
 _They are going to kill me, I'm scared._  
  
"No they won't. I won't let them." Sans replied to the faint voice, he did not care where it came from. But he knew it needed comfort. Reaching out he gently took the source and held it. In his arms he could feel the woman go a little limp as her body relaxed and she stopped crying. Pulling gently he bought the source to his own, they floated together in his chest.  
  
Sans was only vaguely aware he had pulled her soul out, resting it with his own. He could see a green aura pulse with each beat from within him. Each little green heart beat next to his felt like magic returning to him more and more.  
  
 _Don't be scared anymore, I'm here._  
 _I'm scared for both of us._  
 _We can protect each other._  
 _We aren't strong enough._  
 _We will be, trust me._  
  
Magically Sans started to feel exhausted, he couldn't hold her soul anymore. And as he let go he realized full what he did, and realized what he heard. He had heard this before, her voice. It was her soul speaking out, he heard what her voice had sounded like before all this happened to her.  
  
He finally heard her... and she was only terrified.  
  
It made his soul ache and even though she had her soul returned the woman was still a little limp but she was ok. Sans felt her, in her soul. She was going to be ok, she was just exhausted. He was too and gently held her as they relaxed in the small corner of the room. Even though there souls weren't next to each other now they still felt connected.   
  
They could almost fall asleep but Sans snapped aware the moment the door opened again. Glaring he watched as the dark blue souled nurse came in alone. Quietly she closed the door behind her. "I'm here." She announced out loud and started to walk forward. Standing up Sans would place himself in front of the woman like he was ready to attack. The nurse froze where she was.   
  
Sans could hear the poor nurse breathing heavily for a moment as she searched for words. "The police are here and want statement... And we still need to test her to see if she is going to be ok." She paused to gulp. "I know you don't have a lot of trust in us but for her safety... please let us near her." Sans thought it over for a moment, everyone really had been helping her here, it was just that fraud. But he was just so angry that this could have almost killed her that he didn't know if he was willing to risk it again. Sans straighten trying to make himself look more intimidating. "I'm not leaving her alone." The nurse nodded. "You don't have too, we aren't going to make you leave her. We just need close to her." The woman would hold onto Sans as she used him to help herself up. Shaking as she was squished behind him and the wall. Sans noticed her hand come out from behind him and sign 'yes' quickly. Watching her hand he finally relax and glanced back up at the nurse.   
  
"Just... don't have two many people in here, I would prefer only one at a time." She nodded. "Fair enough, can I leave for just a moment to get the supplies to draw her blood? That way we can test it?" Sans would nod and watch her walk to the door, several people were gathered around it whispering questions and shuffling around once the request for supplies was given. Sans turned to the woman for a moment. "Want to sit back on the bed?" She shook her head no and stayed firm with her back against the wall. The two watching as the same nurse came back quickly with the supplies. " **Door**." Sans commanded and the nurse snapped her head back around to signal the people outside to close it. Looking up and down the nurse Sans was pretty impressed how she was staying calm under presser, seeing how she didn't know that Sans didn't have the strength to kill her right now.  
  
It made him feel dumb for not picking up on how nervous the fake nurse was before. The nurse would lay out the supplies on the bed before unpacking them but Sans reached out and grabbed her arm. She frozen and backed her hands away. "Let me look at them, make sure nothing is in them." Sans explained and the nurse took a step back letting him do so while giving the two space. After a moment of making sure each vial and syringe was empty and that packaging wasn't disturbed he moved back to the woman and held her gently. "Ok." Sans confirmed and the nurse went back to the supplies. "Now I just need her arm, I'll make this as quick as I can." The nurse didn't move to grab for it and waited for it to be presented. Slowly the woman would as she buried her face into Sans and held him. Sans watched intensely as the nurse tied her arm and found her vein, then started the blood draw.  
  
Though he would find himself impressed how easily the nurse switch between vials during it and within a few moments it was over. Giving the woman a piece of cotton to hold over the wound. Quickly the nurse placed each in a plastic bag and turned back to Sans. "Maybe I check her? I just want to look at her eyes and take her pulse." The two didn't say anything and the nurse did not take that was a yes or no. After a moment the woman would nod and the nurse pulled out a small flashlight. "Look at me." Then flashed it back and forth off her eyes. "Now follow the light." And the nurse would move it around, close and further away. Quickly she put it away and reached for the stethoscope around her neck. "Now for the blood pressure." The woman would give her wrist as it was gestured for and Sans watched as the nurse mentally counted something while watching a watch on her own wrist. "Alright I'm done, so far everything looks good." She relaxed and took a step back away from them. "Do you two need some time or can the police come in for statements? We want to catch that person as much as you do so if you can help us-" Sans paused her. "One at a time." She nodded and thanked the skeleton before leaving.  
  
He could hear a shuffle outside and waited but could feel the woman shift towards the bed. Finally he was able to guide her to sit down, glancing over he could see that she felt faint. After a moment a nervous officer came in with a camera. Instantly taking a few photos of the area. "Don't pretend we aren't here." Sans barked and the man stopped. "Sorry." He put down his camera and brought on a notepad and pen, the sight make the skeleton a little nervous.  
  
"First, names and then tell me what happened." The two stared at him for a moment not answering. "Hello...?" Sans huffed and just jumped into explaining, completely ignoring the name question trying to spare the woman the grief of going over that. He would move between the two and start explaining how the nurse came in, what she looked like. What had been said, how they started breaking out into a fight. Sans had to pause for a moment recalling the chase. He would bitterly explain it soon after and spit out how he almost had her but was pulled off and tackled to the ground while the fraud got away.  
  
The police officer turn to the woman. "And can I have your recount of the events?" It was awkward for a moment before Sans bitterly spoke up. " **She is mute dumbass**." He could feel his anger swelling back in him and the male snapped his jaw shut for a moment as Sans spoke. After a moment he found words again. "Does... your recount differ from the skeletons account?" She would shake her head no and her placed his notepad away. "...thanks? I'll be around talking to other witnesses." He nodded his head and left the room. Sans expected someone else to come in right away but the two were left for the moment. Even outside there door seemed to quiet down. Facing the door Sans sat down on the bed slowly he could feel hands reach around him behind him and hug him.  He quickly noticed how her touch didn't hurt. Moving his hands up to his head he blocked out the light of the room. He could hear her hum behind him and she was trying to relax him, but he just felt so on edge that he couldn't. He almost wanted to cry from the stress of it.  
  
Quickly he found himself desperate to talk to her again, not just through notes or sign. But he couldn't just pull her soul out for that... he didn't even know how that worked. And had he not hear it before? Sans knew he had but when? He couldn't recall at the moment, but it made him wonder... how hard did her soul call out for him to be able to hear it? It made his own soul ache thinking about how desperate someone wanted to scream out that their soul did it for them. Maybe muting her was a prefect punished in those bastards eyes. Quickly becoming pissed off as he thought about Guardship and the bastards that belong to it.  
  
He could feel her pull herself closer and press against his bones. Burying her face in the back of his neck and breathing softly. It sent a chill down his bones as the air when into his rib cage, but he still found it relaxing either way. After a few moments he was able to relax into her and listen. She hummed lightly and could hold a light tune. But he still couldn't quite place it, had he even heard it before?  
  
He wasn't able to enjoy the peacefulness of it for long as they both froze at the knock on the door. A new nurse dressed in red with little dots over her scrub came in announced herself as she walked in, closing the door behind her. She only moved forward enough so that she could be easily seen and see the two. That fact that she was nervous made Sans anxious. "We have been trying to get a hold of her emergence contact but can't get through, do you happen to know another number we can try?" Sans deflated for a moment as he thought about it.  
  
Who the hell was her contact? The nurse noticed his confusion and started gesturing upwards. "The taller skeleton, we have him listed as her emergency contact."  Sans leaned a bit to the side thinking about it. His brother put himself down as her contact? I mean it made sense since he didn't have a phone after losing it, but with how upset he was at her Sans was a bit surprised. Also why were they trying to contact him? What could he even do right now? It was far too late to make him chase after the fake nurse. Maybe they think of him as some sort of guardian for the woman? Something felt off.  
  
He looked up having almost forgotten her question. She wanted another number to contact him? He assumed that Papyrus would only give his cell since the house phone was completely broken, that only made sense. So we wouldn't have another contact number to be reached by... and would he really ignore calls coming from the hospital that his brother dropped him off in?  
  
He wouldn't, so why... why couldn't they get a hold of Papyrus?


	29. Useless

Sans felt like he had just been sucker punched when it finally hit him that something might have happened. Something DID happened here right? And that was just with one person, Guardship has so many more people that they could after Papyrus. Hell even the whole guard. Ignoring the two of them Sans dashed for the phone next to the bed. Quickly he slammed the number for Papyrus. Holding his breath as he waited for it to connect.  
  
It rang with no asnwer.  
  
Starting to panic even worst Sans could feel himself breathing heavy. He would quickly punch in the number for that crazy fish. Undyne had more than one phone between her cell and lab phones and Sans called them all.  
  
All of them rang without asnwer.  
  
"DAMNIT!" Sans screamed and slammed his fist on the table, already thinking the worst had happened. Next he called Alphys, it wasn't a safe bet as she broke her phone a lot but maybe this one time it would work... it had to work.  
  
It rang still with no asnwer.  
  
His bones rattling as he imagined each of them being killed while everything happened here. Quickly he raced through each number of the guards. Having had called them almost daily he knew them by heart.  
  
No one answered.  
  
Slamming down the phone he heard it crack and his mind raced on what to do. It wasn't like he could just roll in and save everyone, he wasn't even sure where they were, what or if something happened, if they were even alive.  
  
Carefully he picked up the phone and called the direct line to the Queen, Toriel.  
  
She picked up before the first ring even finished. "Who is this?" She spoke annoyed but Sans wanted to scream in relief that SOMEONE picked up. "It's Sans, My Queen." Instinctively he placed a hand right under where the crest would be on his armor. He could hear her sigh annoyed before speaking. "Speak your business for calling me on this line." She would command in a firm regal tone. Sans spoke quickly. "I am current with-" He paused not having a name for the woman to give Toriel, she would asnwer for him. "I assume that human you brought? I saw the report." He nodded even though she couldn't see it. "Yes. We were attacked within the last few hours and I am unable to contact any of the Guard, Undyne or Alphys... or my Brother." Sans listened as the Queen shifted, suddenly taking this most serious. "Are you still without magic?" He confirmed quickly and the Queen thought for a moment. "Where was the last location you know that they were in?"  
  
He gulped and explained. "Undyne's Lab, right after the mission. I have not spoken to any of them since, but I was only attacked recently. But I fear they might have-" The queens voice cut him short. "Stay where you are, that's a command. I will handle this from here." He could feel a tinge in his soul knowing why he was given that command. Because he was useless, otherwise the Queen would demand her Captain at her side. It hurt to be reminded of his state. "Yes my Queen." He nodded again and heard a click from the phone. Gently Sans placed down the cracked phone and sighed. He sent help and he had no doubt in his mind that the Queen could handle any situation, she was never one to come out unprepared. But now that just leaves him to just wait as he almost felt trapped again by the fact his magic had not returned. He felt so... useless.  
  
Sans had also completely forgotten that anyone else was in the room. Defeated he turned back to the nurse and stared at her. She didn't seem to know what to say, the two women in the room just watched Sans contact the Queen of all monsters over this. What could anyone even say to that? "No. And you can leave now." He told the nurse and she nodded before exiting quickly. Looking back to the woman and saw that her face was painfully twisted with worry. "Don't give me that look... I just..." He raised his hands to his face just in time to feel tears.  
  
He was just so stressed and frustrated. Between the mission last night, what happened this morning, what was happening now and how he couldn't do a single thing about it anymore. But he felt the two hands pull him in close, guiding him to sit on the bed. Sans would cling to her hospital gown and buried his head against her chest. "I'm just so... scared for them." He could feel her petting his skull and holding him as he cried. "I'm so scared for my brother, I'm scared for you." He paused and looked up at her. "I can't help anyone like this." He would watch as she brought a hand close to his good eye and trace down the side of it.  
  
Realizing quickly he could tell she wanted to say something, but knowing full well she couldn't just SAY it made his soul hurt even more. The woman moved her hand from his face to gesture tapping her eye. She had done this before when asking about his own eyes. At first he just stared at her too upset to really understand. She would gently take his own hand and bring it up to his good eye. Between bone and skin he noticed a light reflecting off of them. It was a light purple, but nothing in the room was giving off that color. He realized it was coming from his eye.  
  
His eye DID have magic in it, holding back his grief he started to feel it. It was a small glimmer but it was there. Part of him wanted to be overjoyed but began clinging on to her roughly he slammed his eyes shut and cried harder. He knew that it wasn't enough, he couldn't help anyone with what he had. Soon he could feel her start to fold over him as Sans drifted to her lap. She would cling to him as he did her and start wailing with him. Sans could feel a pulse of a soul wanting to scream, it wanted to say something. But it couldn't, she was physically mute and he was too upset to hear.  
  
The two of them cried together.  
  
It would be a while before the two calmed down, and each person that came in before that time would just see the two and leave. Sans would break out of their pile first to pace around the room, then look out the window. The woman laid back down exhausted. Glancing at her he was happy that she was doing fine but- it bothered him so damn much that he couldn't do anything. He didn't catch that fraud and now he was stuck here while waiting for some sort of sign that everyone else was ok.  
  
Even if he could go, to just leave... would he? She was almost killed so this wasn't a good time for her to left her alone, because what if they came back?- No, he would bring her along with him? Maybe he could drop her somewhere safe? No if he did have the power he wouldn't have stayed here... and it made him feel worst trying to figure out the 'what ifs' that aren't going to happen. Sighing Sans realized how quiet it was between the two, she wasn't even trying to write anything to him and just stared off into space. It crossed Sans mind that she may feel guilty because he was here with her and not with his brother. And right now Sans felt too conflicted to say one way or another.  
  
He didn't even look over at someone knocked and came into the room, listening for a moment Sans could tell it was the food cart. After a bit of shuffling they left and looking over he could see that the hospital damn near gave them a feast. Sans could only assume it was because of what happened earlier. Though found himself not really in the mood to eat, but it didn't last long as he convinced himself if he didn't do so now would he even going to eat the rest of the day? Taking the time to pick at everything it tasted great as Sans picked at it but couldn't bring himself to enjoy it. The woman didn't express anything and just ate with her head down. They didn't eat much and most of the food was left to get cold on her little table. Soon enough Sans just lay himself across the foot of her bed with his legs hanging off the side and closed his eyes. Not wanting to stress himself out anymore than he already was. He ended just not thinking about anything. She would curl into a ball as she hugged her own legs and buried her face in her knees as almost a completely silent fell between the two.  
  
It would be about evening before the phone rang. Racing up Sans nearly hit the floor as he moved to the cracked phone. His bones already rattling. "HELlo?!" He shrieked and a familiar voice chuckled on the other end. "Hey bro." His brothers voice was weak like a whisper and Sans could hear him breathing hard like he was exhausted. "Papyrus what happened??!" Sans continued to panic and one could almost hear the smugness in the chuckles. Papyrus groaned lightly into the phone like he was straining to get up or move.

Sans waited quietly for a moment. "Sorry about worrying you, we got attacked not long ago... hear you were the one that sent the Queen? Man I haven't seen her raise a hand since the kid challenged her. Hell as no fury like what she can dish out.... yeah? Your welcome?" Papyrus started to trail off as if he was talking to someone else. "Anyway I wanted to tell you that I'm alright so is Undyne, we are currently getting Alphys back up. Those bastards got us all separated so we are about to search for everyone else." His brother paused for a moment to listen to someone in the background, Sans could make out Alphys yelling. Papyrus sighed a little which caused him to cough. "But yeah... Queenie mentioned you got attacked too? Everything ok now?" Sans frowned as he thought about what happened today. "Both of us are fine, but the bitch got away." He could feel his voice snap out his words as he talked. Papyrus groaned lightly over the phone. "So that adds to another one still out there, we'll get them. Well just hang tight, once we find everyone I'll head down there. Alright bro?"   
  
"Yeah." Sans spoke quickly and held his breath for a moment. "Alright, talk to you later." And quickly the call was ended but Sans didn't put down the phone and listened to buzz of the dead line. Reaching over the bed the woman would tap his arm and he relaxed, letting out the breath he held and placed the phone down. Moving to the chair Sans fell into it and covered his face with his hands. "Sorry... I never use to be like this." Thinking about how he use to be, Sans remember yelling at someone for almost dying. Calling plenty of people weak because of it. Sure he would defend but in the same breath tear them down to 'motivate' them to get stronger. But everyone was like that underground...  
  
Looking up he saw her holding a message for him. "i never use to be like this either its ok" Moving the pad back to her lap the woman would scribble once more. "we all change in one way or another it isnt a bad thing" She sighed and turned the pad but tapped her pen for a moment debating. Sans didn't want to interrupt her, he had done that plenty of times already. "i use to be someone with a voice that mattered but now i dont have one at all but its ok" Sans opened his mouth but the woman pointed her pen at him with a stern look so he shut his jaw.  
  
He watched as she calmly wrote. "you mentioned being a captain before this? even if you arent now because you cant use your magic thats ok doesnt mean you cant recover from it but if you" She paused for a moment as she thought of a different way to write it. "decide to not become a captain again it will be ok Understand?" Handing over the notepad Sans took it and leaned back in the chair. Gently he rand his fingers over the words for a moment as he tried to imagine her voice speaking them. It would be how he would want to remember her words... all of them.   
  
Moving his hand up Sans gestured for her pen and wrote on her notepad quickly before handing it back to her. "we will recover" She smiled as she got slightly emotional... not sad but happy? He watched her hold that notepad to her chest tightly and mouth some words. Sans wasn't able to tell what they were but it felt familiar. Though he did make a mental note to get her a better notepad as he watched how she clung to the one she had, it was amazing how such a simple object could be so important to her. She deserved so much better than some crappy hospital notepad. Glancing behind her Sans started to notice how the colors were shifting in the room from the window. He had missed a decent amount of the sunset and it was getting darker. "You should head to bed soon." Turning her notepad around she wrote. "you?" He smiled at her and shook his head. "I don't think I can sleep yet, my brother mentioned he will come back when he can." The woman nodded at him. "goodnight then" She paused. "you are always welcome to rest on the bed btw"  
  
Leaning forward he playfully took the notepad from her and she didn't try to fight it. "I'll keep it in mind, now go to sleep." He would start flipping open the notepad after the woman turned herself over to lay down. Getting up he turned off the lights and sat back down with the last page of her notepad. Thankfully there was still enough light in the room with the green backlight of the vitals machine so he could draw. At first Sans drew the royal crest in various types of shields then random scribbles that he tried to turn into objects. But quickly got bored of it.   
  
As it fully became night the green light danced on her skin as she sleep and Sans found himself staring. Entertained that he was able to guess her soul color, though it wasn't hard to guess in retrospect. After a few moments he realized that he was being weird by just staring at her intensely so leaned back in his chair. But just how tired started to hit him, he barely slept in the last two days? After fighting it for a bit longer Sans decided to crawl onto her bed. Even though it was small he would only take a small side to not disturb her, they didn't need to be glued together every night. Sans started to curl and hold himself as he dreamed.  
  
 _He could hear the hustle of wind blowing across a field and could feel the soft grass beneath him. Opening his eyes he could see a strikingly bright blue sky not tainted with even a single cloud. It stretch from one end of the horizon to the other beautifully but overpowered everything else. It took a while for him to look away from the sky and when he finally did it was like a weight was dropped and fell off of himself. Closing himself off he didn't want to look back up, like he would be crushed by it._  
  
 _In the distance he could make out the faint sounds of wind rustling in a forest. Daring to look again he open his eyes and stared at the ground. It was a completely open grassy field with tiny purple flowers scattered around. They glowed with a faint magic and released tiny bubbles of magic into the air only to quickly disappear. But everything else?_  
  
 _White._  
  
 _Gasping he was in a field completely devoid of color besides these tiny purple flowers and the overbearing bright blue sky. He jumped up from the ground causing a white powdery dust to fly up from the ground before settling again. Fear raced through his soul as he held his hands over his mouth dreading the thought of breathing in. His bones rattled as he stood in the open field and spinning around there was no where to get away. It just stretched on forever..._  
  
 _Unable to hold his breath anymore he was forced to take a sharp gulp of air. But as he breathed the air and powder nothing happened. Looking down at himself he realized that whatever he was wearing was chalk full of the powdery dust as well. Nothing really did have color besides... Reaching down he realized any sort of movement caused more white to be kicked up. Gently touching one of the tiny purple flowers caused it to burst with magic and he could feel his magic stir lightly._  
  
 _Walking over to the next flower the same thing happened, it burst in a purple glow right before he could feel just another drop of his magic. Standing straight up he could see that these flowers were far and few across the field. Trying to collect them all would be a daunting task that he didn't know if he had the strength for. Glancing up his eyes were caught by the sky, it beat down on him like a sun would but there wasn't one in the sky. Holding his arms above his head trying to block out the weight it placed on him._  
  
 _Closing his eyes again he could hear the rustle of wind in a forest as it seem to call out for him. He could feel the sound and knew which way to go towards it but only if he kept his eyes closed. Each time he looked out it was just the endless open field of white with small speckles of purple flowers. Each time losing which direction he was going.  But keeping his eyes closed he was forced to walk in an dark void as the pull of the rustling wind gave him direction. After a while it felt like he was trekking through mounds of powdery dust almost up to his knees. He refused to look though not wanting to lose track of the pull._  
  
 _Finally he could sense something right in front of him and reaching out for it he could feel the welcoming warmth it gave. Right before touching it his eyes opened to see the floating green soul against a white forest. Accidentally touching it the green soul warped to purple suddenly before bursting. Instantly he could feel a huge rush of magic being rapidly absorbed into his body as the world changed around him. Green covered the white and the ground would be completely filled with purple flowers._  
  
 _But he couldn't bring himself to look at any of it. Only staring at the voided spot where the green soul no longer existed._  
  
Waking up Sans heard some sort of shifting and quickly he brought up the blanket and wiped the wetness from his eyes before turning over in bed to see. Suddenly he was greeted with the imagine of his brother sitting in the chair finishing off a jello cup. Papyrus smiled as his brothers surprise. "Don't know how long this stuff has been sitting there but it's good." He spoke in a whisper as to not wake the woman. Sans snapped up in the bed. "Papyrus!" He called out and his brother flinched as he tried motioning for Sans to be quieter. It was too late and the woman would start to stir as she was waking up.  
  
Sans didn't care as he looked at his brother. His bones seemed off colored and he carried himself weakly plus Sans could barely see any of his brothers orange magic in his eyes. "What happened?? Are you ok??" Sans started to get off the bed only to fall over in pain. Papyrus would catch his brother but groan in pain as well. "Ow ow ow hey don't start tackling me Im still weak." Papyrus would complain  with a pained smiled across his face.   
  
Getting in Papyrus face Sans felt dread wash over him as he his brother looked like... Himself  
  
Papyrus would reach up and rub his cheek near his good eye. "Sans? When did your magic start returning? How?" He started thinking back, how did it start? When? Sans could feel himself holding his breath as the dream flashed across his mind. Seeing his hand just barely touching the green soul and absorbing it. Quickly recalling how it felt to hold her green soul next to his yesterday. The magic in his bones pulsed hard as Sans could feel eyes of the woman staring at him from behind. A guilt washed over him as the realization of the how it happened hit him.  
  
Papyrus would lowers his tone with concern. "...sans?" He questioned and he was able to bring himself out of it and give a fake chuckle. "Sorry, later." He spout and turned the attention back to his brother. "What about YOU?! What happened when you were attacked??" Papyrus gave a suspicious look over Sans' avoidance of the question but would let it go for now. "Alright alright." Sighing he would help Sans back onto the bed and the woman would sit next to him. Sans watched as his brothers eyes darted between the two of them for a moment. "Well after dropping you off bro Alphys started passing out booze to celebrate how we were taking out another Guardship station as well..." Papyrus paused for a moment as he noticed the woman looking uncomfortable. "For taking out the one that you were held in. A lot of the guard were drunk by the time we realized what was happening." Papyrus paused to take a deep breath and Sans could recall the feeling of breathing in the white fog in his own chest.  
  
His brother let out a little cough before continuing. "Ugh yeah so- we started to notice smoke coming from the vents at Undynes causing a mad scramble for everyone to drunkenly find their safety gear. I just started teleporting as many of us as I could far away until the gas knocked out my ability to teleport." Sans face twisted as he could visualize all this happening. "Running around I found Undyne and we ran for decontamination. Then using some backup masks we started dragging out as many as we could before they dusted. Couldn't find Alphys for a long time though- Don't worry she is fine." Papyrus paused to confirm so Sans wouldn't get any more upset than he already was. "Me and Undyne started finding Guardship trying to raid her computer room but they triggered some of Napsatatons old bomb bots to go off. So we blasted through them quickly and was able to figure out were Alphys was..." Moving his hand to his face papyrus rubbed the bridge between his eyes. "...that crazy bitch was fighting off their main group no protection. By the time we got down to her guess who of all monsters shows up, ALSO without protection? Queenie herself."  
  
Gesturing wide papyrus moved his hands while explaining. "Suddenly fire was everywhere and creating wind vortexes that was pushing the gas back towards the Guardship. Saw they had made some sort of flamethrower thing but for the gas and tried using it against Tori but a few fireballs later whatever they invented was blown up in their faces. She didn't stop until they were all finished or gone." Papyrus would hold a hand over his own soul. "Not too sure what happened next as Undyne had to hook me up with the Queen with the booster. I was starting to fall from being exposed to much of the gas. By the time I had my senses back they had already moved over and Undyne hooked herself with Alphys because she was damn near **melting**. Took forever to get her stable and Queenie forced me to call you two."  
  
Papyrus sat up still in a bit of pain but put on a serious look. "So we have been moving royal guard around and trying to figure out where they are going to hit next if enough of them even escape for another attack that is..." Papyrus glanced over to the woman and she looked guilty over all this. Sans watch his brother get more and more uncomfortable with her again. "They already went after you once right? Or was my bro the target?" The woman started to back up a little on the bed but point to herself. She looked about ready to curl up into herself and Papyrus stood up to quickly grab the front of her hospital gown. "Your not just some nobody victim in all this aren't you? Who the hell are you, what else to do you on them that they tried killing you for?" He would raise her by her gown as he started threatening her. Sans reached out for his brother arm and pulled trying to get him off. "Papyrus wait!" With his other hand Sans pulled the mass of papers the woman wrote before. "Me and her already went over this ok? Put her down and take these please." Papyrus stared into Sans eyes and he did the same. Each brother glowing faintly with magic and barely having any between the two, but looking at each other right now they felt evenly matched.  
  
Dropping the woman papyrus snatched the papers from Sans and started picking through them. Sans would go to the woman and place a hand on her back but she shrugged if off. She would be holding her neck with large unfocused eyes as she held her breath in panic. "Hey hey hey, breath." Sans whispered to her but he doubted she could hear him through her own panic. Papyrus growled when he looked up from the papers. "This is ridiculous there is no way that- Your part of Guardship aren't you? Your just another damn one of them!" Sans sensed magic building around his brother.   
  
Jumping away from the bed Sans would stand in front of his brother and block him when he reached for the woman. Papyrus magic would appear in his hand before fizzling out. Sans knew that the gas must be blocking off what his brother could do and found himself thankfully for that. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to stop his brother from doing something horrible right now. "Sans..." His voice was shaky. "I know she is important to you but- We can't-" He would fall forward and hold onto Sans shaking. Dropping to the ground with his brother Sans didn't understand why his always calm brother was acting so hysterical.  
  
He realized that this was the Hysteria.  
  
Papyrus uselessly thrashed against Sans in a shaking pile on the floor and Sans would just calmly hold him. "She is going to get us killed, she is going to get **you** killed... she fucking one of them-" His brother breathlessly spat out as he was too out of it to realize what was going on. Sans was shaking as he was trying to calm down his brother but-  
  
 _The crying never stopped._  
  
Sans could hear the woman losing it while letting out aired pained noises, he couldn't even tell if it was from crying or if she was trying to scream. Every bone in Sans body hurt as some of the most important people to him were breaking down right in front of him. Grabbing papyrus face he would force his brother to look at him. " **It doesn't matter**." Sans commanded and papyrus face twisted in fear and disbelief. "It does! What are you even talking about??" Papyrus shrieked and Sans stared down into his eyes. "it doesn't matter, she **isn't** one of them now. It even doesn't matter if she use to be or not, understand?" His brother shook his head no. He sighed heavily at his brother trying to figure out what to do. All while watching as his brother was shutting down. "We use to be horrible in the underground Papyrus, but we had to be. But we aren't there anymore, can you understand that?" It would take a moment but his brother nodded. "It's the same, it's in the past." Papyrus didn't asnwer but seemed to calm down a bit, leaning off of Sans he would hold his own head shaking. it made Sans wonder if his brother was having any hallucinations during these hysteria episodes as well. With his brother a bit calmer and more stable Sans would bring himself up from the floor and turn to the woman.   
  
Curled into herself she was holding her hands over her ears painfully hard while gripping her hair. Her mouth running a mile a minute with words she was unable to speak and her eyes still wide and filled with fear. Reaching for her Sans was greeted with her looking up at him in complete terror. Quickly he realized that he couldn't see her in those eyes and he doubted she could see him. It hurt to realize that right now she most likely saw him only as some clouded figured, something that might have given her terror like before.  
  
Stepping back Sans realized he couldn't do anything again. The uselessness he felt crush down on his soul. He would almost trip over Papyrus as he was backing away from her. Having a bit of his mind back Papyrus used Sans to stand up. "...I'm sorry bro I-" But Sans would shake his head and the two brothers helped each other out of the room. Gently the door was closed and they leaned their backs against it to slide down to a sitting position together. Various nurses and humans would stare at them with no comment.  
  
Papyrus swore under his breath as he was starting to realize what he did. Shaking Sans held his head as he could heard something, no he felt it. Weakly in the room something was banging around but all he could feel was her soul screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PURPLE - PERSEVERANCE  
> ((I know most most Swapfell Red AU's have Sans magic as Red, but I wanted to link it to the soul color I'm giving him for this story.))


	30. Powerless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV at the End

It wouldn't take long for all the humans staring at the two brothers to clear out. Leaving the ward deserted besides the other patients that couldn't just walk away. Papyrus would lower his hand from his forehead and look at it for a moment. "Sans... I'm sorry I just- That damned gas get to you mentally. I fucking knew better than to do that but-" He would clench his fist and Sans sighed. he knew he should be angry at his brother but...  
  
He reached for his eye and touched up the length of his scar. "At least this time you didn't hurt anyone."  
  
Papyrus made a chocking sound as he hide his eyes with his hand. "Sans I-..." But Sans sighed heavily and leaned back so hard his head banged against the door. "No. It's not that... It's just this is all messed up. It will be ok right? It's just Guardship's fault for all this." Sans would offer as an asnwer. Papyrus just looked to the side and it would grow quiet between the two again.  
  
The two of them waited long after the room behind them grew quiet. Neither really wanting to go back in there but guilt weight on Sans soul too much. He would be the first to stand and papyrus quickly grabbed his arm. "Wait a sec bro." He would even a pleading stare and Sans waited for him to continue. Papyrus guided Sans to sit again before answering. "I didn't get a chance to say it earlier but... this hospital contacted me." Papyrus would look nervous as his eyes shifted around the area. "Don't get mad but they want us to take her with us. They don't want to risk the other patients again and-" Sans would interrupt loudly. "They won't treat her anymore?" He spoke bluntly. His brother shifted uncomfortably. "They are still willing to fill her prescriptions but she can't just... be here anymore. They told me that she only need light monitoring anyway..." Papyrus would rub his face. "I think I got enough magic for one teleport back to the house. Can you get her ready...?" Sans sighed heavily as he thought of the faces of the people here, the scared ones, the ones that helped. It wasn't fair to kick her out but he could understand. They just wanted to protect themselves. He understood his brother actions, he was trying to protect his brother and himself. Sans wondered if anyone understood him, just trying to protect himself too and the woman. Thinking back she had pushed him away when freaking out, he needed to understand that she was just protecting herself too. There was a good chance that she will be fine. Everyone is just upset.  
  
Standing back up Sans was about to open the door but suddenly thought of the one person that didn't knock. It was that damned fraud of a nurse and he did not want to scare the woman again. Lightly he knock and opened the door slowly. Inside the room was a little messy but mostly unchanged as if she thrashed around for only a few minutes. Looking over to her she was sitting on the bed slumped over a bit with a far out stare at nothing. Behind her the vital machine was flat-lining and loud going off as she had disconnected herself from it. Walking over to her slowly he made sure he was loud enough to not sneak up on her. But also couldn't find anything to say, words were caught in his throat and it would get even worst looking into her eyes. She glanced up at him dully with dark void like eyes and Sans realized she just emotional had shut down. Wordlessly he offered a hand to the woman and she took a moment to look at it before gently placing her own hand in his. Sans didn't know if she understood or not but would guide her off the bed and towards the door.  
  
Papyrus was surprised to see the two coming out right after Sans went in there, expecting it to take longer. And staring at the woman he felt even more confused that she was just standing next to him with no reaction. Sans would give his brother a nod and Papyrus placed a hand on both of them, quickly teleporting out of the hospital.  
  
The three would appear in the living room. Papyrus was just inches from the couch and would collapse right into it. Sans worryingly hovered over his brother and he would glance up at Sans. "I'm ok... I'm just tired. I'm going to be lazy and take a nap, that ok bro?" Papyrus smiled jokingly and Sans knew he would be fine. "You get permission to be lazy." The taller skeleton would weakly hold up a fist in joking celebration. It put Sans at ease a little but also had to make a note mentally that this would be one of the few times he would allow it.  
  
Sans glanced over to the woman as she stood there still in a emotionless daze. But looking at her face he knew that she was exhausted. Taking her hand he would guide her upstairs to his bedroom. The two moved slowly and didn't speak at all, but that felt normal between them. Walking into the room Sans left the light off but the door open, not quiet sure if that was his comfort or hers. She didn't seem to care either way. Gently guiding her to the bed she would sit up on it and Sans couldn't find the words to ask her to lay down. Staring at her she looked off the side and it took a moment for Sans to realize that she was focusing on the open door. Looking down her hands where holding her arms nervously picking at them. Moving closer he crawled on the bed with her and stared into her eyes. While she didn't look at him Sans could just tell. She wasn't here, she was stuck somewhere else. Was this what she did back in the room? Just shut herself off to the point that she mentally wasn't there anymore? Sans would carefully reach around her and pull her into a hug but she didn't move, she didn't stop watching the door.  
  
After a while Sans wasn't sure why he did it but would gently pushed his weight against her in the hug to force her to lay down. He laid partly on top of her for a long time and just relaxed into her as her body moved slightly with each breath. Though after a while Sans grew increasingly worried over how to break her out of this trace. Just as he started to move off her he felt her hands gently hold onto his shirt. Sans relaxed his full weight back on her still holding her and soon enough she started crying lightly. Her head would move slightly to be against his skull and Sans could feel the wetness of her tears run down the side of his skull. Closing his eyes Sans wished he could do something for her. A flicker of temptation stirred in him, something urging him to try and pull her soul out once more. Maybe... just maybe he would be able to connect with her again. But the dream flashed in his mind, the moment he touched her soul he would just destroy it. Shaking he held her a bit tighter as he wallowed in his uselessness. Feather light touches would trace the back of Sans skull and neck bones. Slow as she tried to calm him and held him. Quickly Sans was able to stop shaking and relax again. He would take one hand and move it over to her cheek for a moment, wiping away any wetness that he could find before running his hand through her hair. The woman would let out a relax sigh and lean into his touch. The two of them nearly falling asleep.  
  
In the distant Sans could hear a familiar sound, but couldn't quite place it. His mind thought back to the to a door and white hallways. It sounded like something unlocking before all he could hear was the hiss of gas. It filled the air like static and Sans snapped his eyes open when he couldn't take it anymore. Glancing up the woman was frozen still and holding her breath and Sans didn't know why. Looking up into his dark room he didn't see anything.  
  
A small amount of white floated around them and they could only see if because of the light coming in from the open doorway.  
  
Both of them snapped up on the bed and looked out to the white gas leaking into the room from somewhere in the house. The woman would cling to Sans in fear and Sans stared out trying to figure out why. Just why where they attacking them here? Did enough of them really escape from the Queen to already be staging another attack? Him and Papyrus were too weak still they can't-  
  
" **PAPYRUS!!!** "  
  
Sans threw the woman off of him and dashed out the door and into the gas. Barely even looking glancing over the railing downstairs before jumping over it. All he could see was white fog while gas was pouring from a human with a machine standing over the couch. Dashing towards the human, Sans could barely see with how thick the fog around the them. Catching them offguard Sans was able to tackle the human male. Sans shoved his foot against the machine and pointed it away from the dust covered couch as he screamed in anger. Putting all the strength Sans could he punched the human right in the face and the two started to fall forward in a wrestle.  
  
_He no longer feared being consumed by the shadow he fought, he gave zero thought to the fog that drowned every breath he took._  
  
Suddenly two dust covered hands appeared out of the white fog behind Sans and reached straight into his rib cage.  Painfully something pulled his soul out and grabbed it with a vice grip. Ignoring the human Sans reach down to protect his own soul but-  
  
_Suddenly he felt himself being pulled apart like string._  
  
Suddenly Sans realized that he just appeared in Undyne's lab. She would turn from her desk at the noise and loudly scream.  As the fish ran to get something Sans looked to see his brother fading and holding onto his own soul. Sans could feel his brother forcibly trying to take his magic to stay alive. Undyne would return and fall to the ground with the magic booster. Looking at the two dust covered brothers and started yelling in a panic. "I-I- just help Alphys I can't do it-" Looking down Papyrus would still be holding onto Sans soul and move it slightly towards Undyne. Quickly she knew and grabbed the soul as well. Sans choked as now two people would holding his soul. "I'm sorry Sans but he is going to die!" Undyne pleaded as the booster was hooked into him and Undyne quickly connected the other to papyrus fading soul.  
  
_His soul pulsed hard trying to hold onto what little magic it had left to stay alive with._  
  
Gasping hard Sans held himself as he could feel himself starting to fall. With a strong grip Papyrus grunted loudly and ripped the cords from Sans to serving the transfer. "Undyne- that's enough! I'm ok, that was enough!" He screamed in a dying voice. Alphys would stomp into the room and race over. "What the hell happened?!" The lizard screamed and Undyne looked up at Alphys with as much confusion as her girlfriend had. "We need to get them to decontamination now!" Undyne screamed once more and the two brother were hauled up by Alphys and carried.  
  
_Each torn piece of himself screamed as he was forcibly carried._  
  
Sans could barely keep himself from screaming in pain with each step Alpyhs took. Before Sans knew it he was roughly placed in a small shower like tube with his brother. Each of them holding onto each other and looking over to Papyrus he could tell his brother was going to make it. A hateful look of determination was plastered on his face. Breathing deeply Sans tried to push down his own fear and looked up to Undyne about to close the door. But someone crossed his mind.  
  
_He could suddenly see the silhouette of the woman standing among the white fog. Her hands crossed over her chest as she held where her soul would be. But he could only sense a void in it's place._  
  
"SHE IS STILL AT THE HOUSE WITH THEM!!" Sans shrieked as the door closed and the decontamination started. Through the foggy door Sans start the yellow blur of Alphys dash away, Undyne voice would call out to them but Sans couldn't hear it. Papyrus would pull his brother into a hug. "It's ok, Alphys is going." He spoke weakly before water was dumped over the two and drained, this would be repeated several times as it washed all the dust from the gas that was stuck to the two brothers. Sans could feel his mind setting as the dust was removed, like a plague of the mind that could just be drained down into the earth. Opening the door Undyne would raise a scanner to their souls and breath a sigh of relief. "Good god both of you are going to live." She shook her head and tossed the scanner to the side before reaching in to undress them.  
  
"We need to you two away from even the slightest speck of that crap if you want to recover. The two would weakly help Undyne undress them and were forced through one more wash before the fish would help them out of the decontamination pod. Sans moved to help Undyne as the two of them moved Papyrus out and placed him in another room with a bed. His brothers body flinched with each painful movement. Once laying down Papyrus looked up to Sans. "I'm sorry... for grabbing you... like that bro." Sans shook his head and felt himself crying. "It's ok, it's ok. Your alive that's all that matters." Papyrus would give a weak smile as he tried to relax.  
  
Undyne glanced down at the two sadly and placed a hand on Sans shoulder. "What... happened?" She would wait for a moment for a reply but Undyne's phone beeped. Ignoring everything she would whip it out in a panic before instantly relaxing. "Alphys got your pet Sans." She hummed and Sans didn't have the energy to argue the pet comment. But instead he felt overly relived that she was in safe hands. The thought crossed his mind that Alphys might attack her again but told himself to only assume the best. Standing up Undyne would start rapid texting on her phone. "Once Alphys gets here I'm going to lock down the lab. She is about the only one left of us that has any magic left to fight with. Damn... I'll be back I need to contact the Queen and the rest of the guard." Sans watched as Undyne walked away quickly before focusing back on his brother. He was awake but dazed and in pain. Thinking back to Alphys he found himself so angry at her simply because she COULD still DO something, she could still fight. His bones started to shake and papyrus would reach for Sans trying to comfort him.  
  
Grabbing him Sans would hold onto Papyrus like he was still dying. The two stayed together for a while and Sans only looked up when he heard footfalls coming down a hallway to the room the two brother were in. Struggling to push himself up Sans watched as the door opened and Alphys brought the woman into the room. Both of them still somewhat soaked from decontamination and in new clothes. The woman would break from the lizard and dash for Sans. Tackling him into the side of the bed and the two fell to the floor desperately holding each other.  
  
Moving slowly into the room Undyne cleared her voice. "We are now on lock down everyone, all the guard has either moved to secure locations or to the Queens side." Alphys would nod at her girlfriend before leaving the room. Undyne held herself for a moment. "Everyone let me know if you need anything, we all need to be resting for when we open the lab back up." Looking down Undyne couldn't help but feel awkward and soon left the room as well. The three were left alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly she was shoved backward on the bed as Sans darted from the room screaming for his brother. His form quickly disappearing into the smoke and the woman darted over to the door. Looking down she was able to catch the sight of Sans fighting before he suddenly disappeared in the thick fog like smoke. Gasping loudly and slapping hands up over her mouth then push herself against the wall of Sans room. Trying to hold back fear as she just watched yet another monster disappear into dust. Almost feeling her heart break even more as it was hard to believe what was happening.
> 
> "Who is there?" A strong voice called out causing the woman to snap out of her grief. Quick she would run back into Sans' room. Darting for the window and throwing her hands on it as she tried to pry it open but couldn't. Then messing with the lock she would quickly realize that it was jammed. Shaking as the sound of boots stomping up the stair would sent her into a mad rush and quickly dived behind the door to the room. Waiting she held her breath as some armored man came into the room with a flashlight. The moment that he was far enough in the room she would bolt out from behind the door to exiting the room and slam the door shut behind her.
> 
> Running down the stairs she could hear the man swearing loudly. In a flash he would be chasing as she headed for the front door. A loud bang echoed in the gas filled room as a bullet flew past her causing the gas to shift, the bullet cracking into the wall near the front door. "Hold still bitch!" The man commanded and she screaming as loud as she could while turning to dive into the side room. Heading for the kitchen she looked for a back exit but realized that their wasn't one in this room, knowing now she was trapped. Racing around the kitchen she pulled out every drawer until finding a large butcher knife. The moment it was in her hand she would race to the table and flip it over. Dropping behind it the man shot several more rounds into the table as he came closer. "Don't think your getting away." He spoke clearly while stomping his way over and as he turned around to the back of the table she would jump him with the knife. Firing another shot he missed and she was about to stab him in the gut but-
> 
> It didn't pierce his armor.
> 
> Looking up the woman was suddenly was staring down the barrel of a gun. Every nerve on her skin stood on end as she realized that she was going to die. But the gun clicked once, then again and again. Moving quickly to take advance of the man's confusion over his empty gun. She pulled back and would aim the knife for his face. "FUCK!" He tossed the gun and grabbed her by the wrist holding the knife as part of his face was slashed. Fury filled the man and he threw her to the ground. The knife slide across the kitchen floor and she would make a made dash for it. The man ran over and kicked her hard in the other direction. While her body slid the man scrambled for another clip and raced for the gun.
> 
> Her body shook hard as flashes of beating came to mind and she would yell at herself mentally. Looking up the woman realized that the man had already ran over to her. Standing over her, she could see him aim the gun once more at her head, frozen in fear all she could do was stare up at death. As he started to pull back the trigger he paused for a moment. "...wait are you?-" Fully expecting to be shot and she slammed eyes shut. Loudly a gurgled scream echoed as something wet was slashed onto her. Finally looking up the next thing she realized was the man's blood spewing out of his body from a yellow glowing spear. Falling back the man started wildly shooting into the smoke that covered the house. The lizard monster from before leaped through the smoke and tackled the man. Forcing him to the floor with a loud thud.
> 
> The woman watched him screaming as the lizard monster ripped apart the man's armor and continuing into his flesh. In horror she watched as Alphys pulled an orange soul from the mans open chest, crunching it with her claw. What was only a few seconds felt like minutes as blood spewed everywhere and onto her. Once the man was thoroughly dead Alphys turned and stared the woman down. The lizards tail whipping back and forth as the woman could see Alphys debating attacking her as well. But after a long silence between the two would Alphys squad down and offered a hand. Terrified the woman watched to make sure it wasn't a trick. But thankfully the lizard was patience with her, and soon took her hand. "I'm getting you out of here."


	31. Shame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 3 Lockdown

Sans barely noticed as the couple left the room. Instead he clung to the woman as she desperately held him like he had died or something. Her was breathing heavy and was shaking like a leaf unable to calm down. Sans leaned back on the side of the bed from the floor so she could lean on him. Gently he would rest his own forehead against her and shush her in a whisper. "shh... it's ok." He would repeat a few times for her. Raising his hand up to her damp hair stroking and running his hand through it. It slightly annoyed him how she smelled like the water used in decontamination but he could get over it. As the woman relaxed her head slumped down to the crook of his neck causing her breath to go down his neck and into his rib cage. This always sent chills down his bones and now was no different. Moving his hand down her would lightly rub the base of her neck and head which caused little bumps to spread down her skin. She let out a sigh of relief and started finally relaxed fully.  
  
He smiled as she was no longer tense as he thought that she might even fall asleep like this. Closing his own eyes Sans would rest his head against hers letting out his own sigh of relief. The two relaxing in each others arms for a moment. Though Sans could hear a shift behind him as Papyrus rolled over on the bed. His brother would shift to the side of the bed and look down at the two for a moment. "Bro..." Papyrus gave a little chuckle as he spoke and Sans looked up at him. "Never thought I'd have to tell you not to get frisky two feet away from me, do I need to leave the room for you two?" He would have a lazy smile as he teased and Sans just tensed up.  
  
The woman completely frozen as she process the skeletons words while shaking as shame washed over her. Sans felt a shift as he would try to hold onto her but he was as strong as a wet noodle from the magic boost that he was forced to give his brother. Almost chocking on his breath as he watched her just stumble out of the room. Glaring up at papyrus he could tell by his brother face that he knew that he messed up but he was also confused over how. " . . . p a p y r u s." Sans angrily spoke slowly. His brother sat up on the bed quickly which caused him to groan in pain a little. "Hey, don't look at me like that. You two have so much sexual tension between the two of you know that right?"  
  
Sans placed both his hands on his head feeling a headache coming. "No. We dont." He would let go and start gesturing towards the door that she left out of. "She was raped everyday for who knows how long?!" He tried to explain and Papyrus let out a long thinking hum. "So?" The taller skeleton questioned and Sans stared up at him in disbelief. "What do you mean 'So?' She repulsed by even the thought, she just left the room at the idea of it." Moving off the floor slowly Sans would stand to glare at his brother as he sat on the bed. "I don't know bro, I've been around the old Underground enough times to know when a woman wants some..."  
  
Raising his fist Sans would go to punch his brother, but both of them had the strength of children so it didn't even hurt papyrus. "Heh, ouch bro." Papyrus rubbed the spot like he was in more pain than he actually was. "Resident horndog bro, I know what I'm talking about." His brother put smugly and Sans placed his hands on his hips. "No what you are is a damned Mutt that I should have gotten a muzzle years ago for your damned mouth-"  
  
_He could feel something being strapped onto his face._  
  
Bring a hand up to his mouth Sans spaced out trying to ignore the awful feeling his memory was bring up. Papyrus frowned staring at his brother and quickly sighed, deciding to switch the conversation around. "What about you? You don't feel anything like that for her? You stroke up and down her body enough." Snapping out of his thought Sans almost started hissing. "No." He spoke flatly and walked out of the room was well. At first just to leave the conversation but realized he should try to find the woman and where she went.  
  
There wasn't too many places for her to go so Sans started walking down the hallway of Undyne's lab. Mulling it over in his head Sans realized... there was a lot he disliked about her right? Every inch of him hated that voided look she would get in her eyes when it all became too much. He hated the constant crying and even more so he can hear the echo of her soul crying as well. Though that one might be a trick of his own mind. He hated how she had given up sometimes and just let horrible things happen to her, knowing that he was the type to never stop fighting. Vaguely he remember having a fondness over her bones as shameful as that was. If she was going to get better  it's not like he could enjoy that ever again, in fact he shouldn't have in the first place. Grumbling he turned the corner and found her on the couch in one of the main room of the lab. Stopping he stared at her for a moment. He liked her kindness, yeah she had given up on herself but when it came to helping him? She pushed through it right? That was just him being thankful and admiring her, not attraction. He thought to himself more walking up to her. She was holding her arms and bend over herself a little. Reaching out Sans would touch her shoulder just for her to flinch away from him. Sighing loudly Sans stared at her for a moment. She was closed off but didn't look scared, the way her fingers dug into her skin made him think of something else. Was it that it hurt to be reminded of back then or did she feel ashamed?  
  
Moving over to the side he would sit near her and the woman scooted a little further from him. Sans also realized how much he hated that she was a Mute. Wanting to question her about how she felt but he wouldn't get an asnwer, not the same kind as if she could talk anyway. Yeah, she was just awful. "Sorry about what my brother said, I know it brings up some painful stuff." The woman wouldn't make any movement to acknowledge him. "...is there anything I can get you?" Sans asked defeated and the woman lifted her head for a moment and stared out in thought. Slowly she signed "no" before relaxing back on the couch. Annoyed Sans would stand and look around. "I need to find you some sort of paper..." But after only taking a few steps he would spot Alphys entering from the other side of the room.  
  
The two stared at each other for a moment before the lizard chuckled. "Going barebone?" Looking down at himself he and his brother had not been giving anything to wear after decontamination, huffing he glanced at the woman and he quickly realized she had one of Alphys' oversized shirts on. Mentally yelling at himself, maybe he just spend too long nude when he was captured that it just didn't bother him. Snapping back he folded his arms at Alphys. "Not like I have clothes to wear Alphys!" Which only made the lizard chuckle more. "Lets get you something then, bet you fit Undyne's stuff better than mine." She would raise a hand for Sans to follow but he glanced back to the woman for a moment.  
  
She would still be lightly holding herself and looking away dramatically. As Sans figured that he couldn't do anything else for her decided to just follow Alphys. "I'll be back-" Sans called before pacing himself quickly towards Alphys. As they entered the next room Alphys spoke up. "Heard Undyne wanting to know how you got some of your magic back, once she done solving some sort of computer crash I bet she is going to hound you for it." Looking to the Sans as he sighed thinking about it, and how. He wasn't too sure if it was the act of holding her soul, if somehow her human soul warded off some of the effects... or if he took part of her soul's energy. Frowning Sans hung his head as he walked, the thought of the dream came to mind.  
  
_His hand reach out touching the green soul causing it to warped to purple suddenly before bursting. The feeling of his magic returned but he stared at the void that was left behind._  
  
Harshly he spat out. "I don't want to talk about it." And he saw Alphys slow for a moment to look over her shoulder at him with concern and confusion. He just glared up and she looked back forward quickly. "Yeah sure you might not WANT to but I think you should. Might help her finally figure out some way to help you Sans." He would just shrug it off and they walked quietly for a moment. Turning into a few more rooms they were almost at Undyne's personal room. Walking inside was a shocking variety of posters of horror movies and cute anime, knowing Undyne though these shows were all deceiving cute gore fests.  
  
Sans sat down on a worn beanbag while Alphys started going through Undyne's clothes. "Hm... might have to stick to a shirt or dress." She looked at Sans then back at the clothes. "She got to much of a banging ass for your bones to fill ." Alphys said proudly and Sans snorted. "She is as flat as an ironing board all around. Ooofh-!" Suddenly a shirt was tossed at his head with surprising force. Alphys glaring down Sans as he just smirked at her. After the playful exchange Sans just wore the long button down shirt, with how short he was it came down to his knees. And he didn't have enough energy to be ashamed of nearly anything anymore. Alphys would take a few more moments to pick out something for Papyrus to wear as well and the two moved out of the room.  
  
Walking back Sans passed the training room that Alphys had and sighed. "Hey." He called out and stopped walking, Alphys would stop and turn as her tail whipped slowly behind her. "Think we can start training while we are stuck in this damned Lockdown?" Sans asked quietly and Alphys snorted loudly. "I would break you against the damned floor Sans-" She started to laugh but getting a second look she would see the desperation under his annoyed glare. Sans noticed her tail whipping in thought before snapping back around. "Sure Sans." Following her Sans looked down at his hand and tried to stir his magic but couldn't really summon anything. At least it was there and he could feel it.  
  
"Well look who is up." Alphys stopped in the doorway to the room the two left the woman in. Sans moved out from behind her to see his brother sitting on the couch sideways and hovering over the woman. His hand holding her chin and forcing her to look at him. The moment the two brothers stare caught each others he left go and leaned back into the couch. "Heh." He smirked and Sans ripped the clothes from Alphys and stomped over to his brother. Quickly tossing them at him before turning to the woman. For a moment she gave him a pained look then looked down at herself. Once again closing herself off by curling up and Sans felt anger bubble back up in him. Glaring over to his brother as he was getting dressed. "What did you do Mutt?"  He snapped and Papyrus hummed.  
  
His brother would pat down the long lab coat before answering. "I didn't do anything, don't get in a huff bro." He leaned a bit as he turned to the woman. "Right? Did I do anything?" He asked and without looking up the woman signed 'no' before going back to holding herself. Alphys would slowly walk up to the two skeletons with a guard stride and glaring at Papyrus. The taller skeleton shifted his eyes to the side a bit nervous. "Papyrus?" She spoke holding an annoyance or anger in her voice and he would be forced to look her back in the eyes. "Your a fucking dumbass you know that? What part in your empty skull did it seem like a good idea to teleport somewhere with two nearly powerless monsters and a defenseless human right after the whole damned lab got attacked?" Alphys folded his arms and would look down at papyrus. "... sorry Al, had some shit on my mind and just-" He would shrug and look away again. "Wanted to go home?"  
  
Alphys snorted angrily. "Damn near got the three of you killed and you better fucking think first next time." Alphys eyes snapped downward and locked on the human woman. "You good, after all that?" Alphys spoke in a strained voice and Sans turned to see that she was resisting the urge to attack. The woman finally glanced up and locked eyes with Alphys which just caused the lizard to become more on edge. Raising her hand she point to herself and would sign C then 'yes' before frowning. Second time she was able to force her damaged hand to make an O then sign 'yes' again. Alphys seemed to relax a little staring at the frustrated human.  
  
Turning to Sans quickly Alphys spoke loudly. "Her sign is terrible, what is she even trying to say?" The woman deflated and Sans folded his arms and thought about it. "She is trying to say that she is ok." Papyrus would insert quickly while flashing a smirk at the woman. "Right?" His brother asked and she would sign 'yes' once more. Alphys would place a hand on her hip and start walking away. "Find her a damned book or something, shitty to be mute and not know sign." Sans rolled his eyes as he mouthed 'no shit' behind her back then signed what 'ok' looked like for the woman. Sans would heard his brother shift behind him and start following Alphys. "Lets get something to eat Sans." Papyrus would grab Sans skull and start pulling him along. Growling lightly Sans snapped his brother hand away causing Papyrus to chuckle at him.  
  
Glancing back to the woman Sans realized the two were just sort of ignoring her and he leaned down to be eye level with her. "You want to come with us to -" She would sign 'no' a couple times and Papyrus stopped to stare at the two. "Just leave her, she doesn't want to move." He spoke lightly before continuing to follow Alphys. Sans would sigh heavily at his brothers comment and continue staring at the woman. "You should eat, we both should. Come along ok?" But Sans grew more confused when she signed 'no' again. "Hey what is wrong?" He whispered and leaned in to hug her but a hand would gently reach out and push back against his rib cage. He was still close enough to put his hands somewhat around her but unable to  give her a full hug. Sans stared at her confused and she would just look up with a upset and pleading look. It REALLY looked like she could use a hug but she seemed to resisting the urge to the point of it being painful.  
  
Sans just couldn't read her face, each emotion seemed to contradict each other and made him doubt that he was even close. Before he knew it Papyrus was pulling him back and tossing his small frame over his shoulder. "What the hell Papyrus?!" He shouted and flailed around as he was carried. "Come on bro, lets get something to eat." Papyrus spoke annoyed and quickly moved out of the room, stopping after he closed the door. But sadly didn't put down Sans. "What got you so upset? Thought you didn't like her why you got to cling to her when she clearly doesn't want to be touched?" He teased and Sans stopped struggling and let himself be carried while thinking about it. It wasn't that HE needed to hug or be on her. She needed comfort, she is upset and it wasn't like he could sit there and talk to her about it. He just wanted to hold her and show her that she is safe finally. She didn't need to stress over what happened to her.  
  
Sans caught himself thinking that he wanted to... hold her. But that was only to comfort her. It already felt like he was contradicting himself and held his head as the small headache was in full swing. Papyrus chuckled and set Sans down. "Don't hurt yourself thinking about it, it's not that complicated. You like her, I had a hard time seeing that but I do now. You two just... connect over what happened right? You don't come to any of us about it, you only share that with her, kinda pisses me off because I'm here for ya bro. But I'll get over it." Sans looked up as his brother talked confused, it made sense but- Papyrus frowned at him. "It doesn't have to be romantic, I know you think she can't because she has been raped." Papyrus would reach for cigarettes that didn't exist, his hand twitching when he realized it. "Plenty of relationships are only platonic." The taller skeleton would start dragging him along again while Sans tried to reason it in his head.  
  
It wasn't romantic or platonic, it wasn't a relationship like what papyrus was thinking right? But what he said about them being connected over what happened... that made sense. It made a lot of sense to Sans. He didn't quite know what that equaled out too though. It kinda felt like battle or war buddies, maybe family? It was a strong feeling feeling... victim buddies? That didn't sound right either. He could feel his headache getting worst thinking about it. Trying to imagine her for a moment Sans realized that a label didn't really matter right? Yeah, it didn't matter. Stepping through the next door it occurred to Sans that he was stressing over this yet wasn't even focused on WHY she was upset anyway. It was because of what Papyrus said, mentioning them getting 'frisky' together. He paused at the thought, it was because of what happened right?  
  
"Sans?" His brother looked over as he stopped walking. But Sans remembered how everyone there was just disgusted because he was a monster, he even remember her getting yelled at for being on him. Made him vaguely wonder if she thought he was disgusting for being a monster as well. She might not hate or dislike monsters but depending on how much she agreed with Guardship when she 'was' with them... Papyrus would wave his face in Sans face. "Hello?" Snapping out of it Sans pushed passed his brother not wanting to explain. After a moment he could hear his brother following again. Entering the kitchen he spotted Undyne and Alphys already eating cup noodles.  
  
Undyne looked miserable while Alpyhs was hanging over to her with a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you will figure out the computer thing, don't let it get you down." But the fish would whine loudly. Papyrus would perk up and walk pass Sans. "Something up with the computer Undyne?" The two brothers watched her sigh heavily "YEAH THERE IS-" She paused looking at them. "Are you wearing my clothes?" Papyrus would chuckle at her. "What? I wear it better or something?" He teased and Undyne would glare at him then at Alphys. The lizard shrugged and leaned back eating her food. "You rather them walking around naked?" Undyne would drop the conversation after that and just eat.  
  
The two brothers moved to find something to eat but the huge supply of noodles loomed over them. "Don't tell me you don't have real food..." Sans asked defeated and Alphys turned from her sulking girlfriend. "It's there you just have to dig, but I'm sure your all tired so just go with the cup. We are going to be stuck long enough anyway, we can have a cook off later Sans." The two taller monsters frozen at the comment as Sans felt a small bubble of excitement rumble in his soul. "I'm not going to let you out of this one." He smirked and Alphys seemed happy at his reaction before turning back to comfort Undyne. She seemed in even more distraught now that the two guardsmen mentioning cooking. Sans would turn to Papyrus and see him already making the noodles. "yeah no we can have noodles now that's fine." Sans would just blow off his brother comment and start thinking about cooking.  
  
Sitting down with the cup Sans focused at what he could make. It would be his first meal he was making after being captured, it needed to be something big. Glancing at Alphys she was already giving him a taunting smirk. He glared back at her before quickly slurping the bland noodles. Whatever he made it would have to blow Alphys mind otherwise she would just say it tastes like shit. Undyne would side with her girlfriend and... glancing at Papyrus he would side with me otherwise I would rip off his jaw. He smiled at the mental threat, knowing he wouldn't but it just felt nice to imagine. Papyrus gave Sans a suspicious glance as Sans staring at him with a murderous smile. It quickly occurred to him that maybe the woman could be the judge? He didn't know if she would give a fair choice though, but then again her favoring him wouldn't be a problem in his book. Glancing over at the door that lead back to where she was Sans tried imagining her reaction to a feast before her, she was starved before so wouldn't she be happy? Though at the hospital she never was excited over big meals. Maybe she wasn't the best for it until she got better. Sans broke his thoughts as a freshly warmed up on cups was roughly placed in front of him. Looking up Papyrus looked a little annoyed. "If your going to ignore everyone just go give her some food." Looking around he noticed everyone was staring right at him... were they trying to talk to him?  
  
Sans looked back down at the steaming cup. "Sorry I just had something on my mind-" Undyne chuckled. "Yeah we noticed, anyway you can asnwer me later." He blinked not sure what he missed and frowned. "No it's fine I-" Next his brother would dismiss him by waving a hand away. "Nah just do it, we wouldn't be able to keep your attention anyway." He complained and Sans felt bad but also pissed off, he was paying attention now why couldn't they just repeat themselves?? Glancing down at the cup he figured if they were going to be like this then he might as well take her some food, since she was most likely hungry. Sans would leave his empty cup on the table and take the new one in a huff. Not in the mood to clean his mess. Making them clean it for shoving him out of the room.  
  
He almost felt excited to bring her food and making his way quickly to her. Reaching the room Sans noticed her still closed off but relaxed. Almost like she had fallen asleep but she looked right at him once he entered the room. He gave her a weak smile and slowly walked over. "Got you a little bit of food. Sorry it isn't much everyone is just having a noodle night I guess." Reaching her Sans offered it and the woman would stare at it for a moment before shaking her head. "no thank you" She signed separately and turned her head to the side. Sans frowned and continued to hold it out for her. "Please... eat." He plead and vaguely felt this being familiar. She would look up at him with a sad look of her own but after a moment it would seem as his look beat out hers. Carefully taking the cup into her hands and letting it warm them before eating.  
  
Carefully Sans moved to the middle of the couch and sat down, making sure to give her some room but not quite the furthest that he could be. Quietly he thought about how it might be best not to bring up what upset her, but he bothered him a lot. He didn't want her to shy away from him and against his better judgment he opened his mouth. "This is about what Papyrus said... I just want to say that you don't have to be ashamed. That's in the past and what anyone thinking about it doesn't matter." He would sigh and turn to her while holding a hand to his rib cage. "I don't want to think that you can't come to me, because you can. We both have been through a hellhole, we got each other." He watched her carefully set down the cup even though she barely ate any of it.  
  
The woman turned to him giving him a pained look before trying to sign. "no" then pointed to him, "yes" pointing to herself. He gave her a confused look and before he could even ask her what she even meant the woman dropped her hands. It frustrated her to the point of almost tears as she couldn't just talk, she even started babbling words that came out aired huffs. Sans reached out for one of her dropped hands and tried placing his own in it. "Let me get you something to write on ok-?" She would flinch and draw her hand back to herself as he touched it.  
  
Starting to cry a little she would sign a sloppy "sorry" before gesturing to herself a few times. Then gave up and ran her hand through her hair trying to calm down. Sans noticed how she would run her fingers over the length of her head then hold onto her neck, her other arm holding her torso. The way he read this is that she wanted to be held but that was the last thing she wanted right? She glanced up at him before signing "sorry" again and getting off the couch to walk back in the bedroom. He didn't realized until she started walking away that he was giving her a hurt expression. He didn't want to watch leave and just stared at the spot she use to be in. Something about this just made his rib cage hurt. Soon laying himself down on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus and Undyne lazily watched as Sans runs off with the cup of food. Alphys whined a bit as her tail twitches. "...why is he acting like that, it doesn't make any sense." Papyrus opened his mouth but Undyne held a hand up to interrupt him. "Let me explain, Hun look at me." Alphys turned to stare directly into Undyne's eyes. After a moment of deeply staring and Papyrus feeling awkward over it Undyne finally spoke up. "...Ship them." Alphys took a moment to process it before her eyes widened. "It makes so much sense." Undyne would give Papyrus a thumbs up as the lizards mind was blown. Papyrus just groaned loudly as he covered his face with his hands.


	32. Frustration

Groggily Sans looked up to Alphys staring down at him. He didn't remember her coming over... did he fall asleep? "Hey. Come with me." She commanded and Sans just gave her a questioning look as he sat up. "What for...?" Sans started to rub his good eye and yawn fully realizing that he did in fact fall asleep. Alphys sighed heavily at him. "Your brother and Undyne need something else to do, they have been hold up in the computer room all night. And Undyne said she wanted to talk to you, maybe go in there and distract them for a moment." The lizards tails sweep back and forth across the floor loudly.  
  
He frowned at her. "You woke me up for... what?" Sans felt annoyed and didn't quite understand, Alphys just huffed and dragged him to his feet. "Just come along." Sans would rip his arm from her but follow along knowing that he didn't have the strength to stop her if she were to pick him up. Quickly the two made there way over to the computer lab, Sans was just happy this time it wasn't while being carried. Looking inside it was dark with the lights off and Alpyhs sighed at the sight and moved out of the way for Sans to see.  
  
Undyne and Papyrus were on the floor with what looked like piles of computer hard-drives and laptops all hooked up together. Each of them with a laptop in their laps and looking like they pulled an all-nighter. "What the hell happened?" Sans asked and Undyne smacked her face with her hands. "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT." She groaned loudly and Papyrus tiredly looked from her to Sans. "Somehow her computer got bombed and we are guessing Guardship but not sure how." He would quietly explain and Undyne screamed again. "I NEED TO SEND EVERYTHING WE GOT TO THE QUEEN BUT I CAN'T LIKE THIS!!" The fish would angrily move the laptop off of her lap and start pacing around the room. Papyrus sighed and leaned over for a cup of coffee. Quietly sipping it and ignoring Undyne like this had happened a lot over the night.  
  
Papyrus glanced back over at Sans and Alphys still standing in the doorway. "Whatcha two need anyway?" He asked while setting the cup next to him on the floor. Alphys would perk up before Sans could. "I brought him here because you need to focus on something else, Undyne your great at multitasking maybe thinking on something else will help you figure this thing out." Sans frowned now awake enough to realize this was about his magic right? That's why she wanted to talk to him before? Undyne stopped and thought about it before turning back to Sans with a careful look, as if analyzing him. After a moment she would start stomping over to Sans and before he could back out Alphys left the room and closed the room.  
  
"Hey!" He pounded against the door as Alphys left him behind. Undyne would slam her hand against the room to keep it shut as her form hovered over him. Her other hand rubbing her chin and bottom lip as she hummed in thought. Sans started to feel a little nervous as she stared at him like some sort of science project. Papyrus just found some amusement before returning to his coffee. "So when DID your magic start recovering Sans? You avoid the question a few times a couple of times and that makes me think it didn't just come back by itself. Besides in my research it wouldn't have started to recover this quickly, and I doubt the fact you had a different mixture would change the recovery time by this much."   
  
Sans stared up at her and quickly changed his fear to anger as she talked down to him. "You assume to much, you know how good I am at magic you can't reason it didn't just came back on his own?" He spat and Undyne carefully looked over at him. "When did it start? What were you doing? If your right then maybe we can do it again, hell might have other monsters do the same. Tell me." Sans flinched lightly and thought about when, it was grabbing her soul right? He vaguely remember his magic stirring right before though. Looking down at his hand he tried to recall what he felt when magic filled his broken eye.  
  
Undyne would suddenly grab the hand Sans was looking at and hold it up to him. "You did something, with your hand? She would be giving a crazed smile as she was trying to intimated him for answers. "No! I didn't I-" He backed up only to be pushing himself more against the door that Undyne had him against. "But you did...?" She leaned in questioning him and Sans thought about her soul in that field, him reaching for it. A panic sent through him as he shut his eyes to the imagine, not wanting to see the next part. He didn't want to see her soul being consumed by his magic and disappear. "I didn't mean to grab her soul!" He called out and Undyne frozen for a moment before glancing at Papyrus.  
  
Sans huffed after yelling and trying to desperately distract himself from that imagine. After a moment Undyne let go of his hand and roughly grabbed his face. "What color?" She spoke quickly and in Sans' distress answered quickly. "Green!" He shoved the fish off and Sans noticed his brother getting up. "Hey that's enough Undyne, give him a minute." Papyrus would place a hand on Undyne's shoulder as she thought about it deeply. It would only take a moment for the gears to turn in her head. "You should absorb her soul, the magic seems to fit already and humans give off immense payout for Monsters." She spoke quickly without putting any thought to her words. Papyrus would pull her shoulder harshly and make her face him. "Undyne shut up." He gestured over to Sans and he could feel himself just staring blankly at the two. I wasn't like he didn't know that, by this point he was pretty damn sure that absorbing her soul would be a quick way of getting his magic back but-  
  
 _Everything around him was bright with various colors of green while the floor was carpeted with hundreds of glowing flowers, each overflowing purple with his magic. But he couldn't look away from the small dark void where the green soul use to be._  
  
Undyne shoved his brothers hand off of herself and snap a hand to gesture to Sans. "Yeah he likes her but when it comes to his magic, his life! We need to know every possible way to help him, and I'm pretty damn sure this is our best way!" She yelled back in Papyrus' face and he growled back. "Well that isn't a damned option-" Papyrus leaned more into her face and Undyne moved closer almost headbutting him. "It's always an option as long as she still has a soul, it might be YOUR last option but it's there!" Suddenly Sans would slam his fist into the door and leave a small dent. "I KNOW THAT ALREADY!!" He screamed at the two arguing and they stopped to stare at him. "I already know so drop it." Sans lowered his voice but spoke bitterly.  
  
Not wanting to deal with the rest of the arguing Sans turned and marched out of the room, slamming the door on his way out. Stomping down the hallways of the lab all he could think about was knowing. He just knew, all along he knew. They didn't need to say it... Stopping he realized that he was heading for the room that the woman held herself up in. Turning around he didn't need to be going in there upset about possible stealing her soul in the future OR trying to use her to calm down. She didn't want him near her so that was out. Sans would get to about half way to the exit before remembering that they were on Lockdown. Slamming a fist into the nearby wall he couldn't just leave to cool down either.   
  
Sans yelled for a moment in frustration marching back through the lab, at first he was just going no where but started to head towards the training room. Inside Alphys was switching between kicking and hitting a punching bag. But she would pause the moment Sans stepped in the room. He glared at her and she glared back. Quickly Alphys smirked and went back to the punching bag. "She piss you off that much?" The lizard seemed assumed as she spoke. Sans started to walk forward while flexing his hand, trying to summon SOMETHING to attack with. Once nothing came Sans clenched his fist and screamed again causing Alphys to stare at him again.   
  
Sans would start running to quickly close the distance between the two. "SPAR ME NOW!" Once close enough Sans jumped up to punch her but didn't land the hit. Alphys seeing the most obvious charge ever just grabbed his small frame as he jumped quickly pushing against Sans hard and causing him to slam down on the ground. Sans grunted in pain but would sweep his leg around and kick at her ankle trying to make her go off balance. Alphys snorted since Sans didn't have enough strength to kick her own leg out. Using her other foot she would shove it between him and floor kicking up. Flinging Sans just enough off the ground that went she spun quickly her tail smacked him hard sending him flying across the room.   
  
Loudly he screamed out as his body was flung across the room and slide to a stop. Coughing for a moment he pushed himself up to guard against Alphys but quickly realized that she had not come after him. "FIGHT ME!" He demanded again and Alphys would stand tall and fold her arms. "When you want to spar then sure, but your just coming at me because your pissed off at my girlfriend and guess what? I'll beat your ass to the ground again and again." She would announce and Sans just scrap himself off the floor and run at her again. Alphys sighed and waited.  
  
Wanting to just clear his mind he didn't listen to Alphys, he wasn't about to listen to Undyne or hell his brother right now. Only wanting an outlet and he didn't care if Alphys was about to win a hundred times over. He finally had the strength to fight, and he was pissed off enough that he was to be damned if he wasn't going to fight right now. Charging her Sans notice her leaned back for a punch but would slide under her. Narrowly dodging her tail as it whipped on the ground and quickly Sans jumped back to his feet. He knew that he was good dancing around bigger opponents with his small frame and was happy to see he hadn't lost all of his speed. Climbing up her back Sans would grab the back of her shirt using it to cover her face. Gearing up while still airborne Sans swung a hard kick to her face. It connected and Alphys was knocked a little off center.  
  
Suddenly she would reach up and grab his foot that was still next to her own head. And even though she couldn't see yet Alphys would just swing him hard into the ground using his leg. Sans screamed again as it felt like his hip was almost ripped out, quickly grabbing the bone and shaking. Alphys wouldn't give him the moment to recover and stepped forward, kicking him hard and making him once again slide across even further away in the room. Rolling across the floor he finally stopped in a crumbled shaking mess. Sans just laid there letting his giving his mind a moment to stop spinning. "Your pissing me off Sans, are you just looking to get your ass beat?" She called out and waited for him to reply.  
  
After a moment Sans slammed his fist on the ground shaking, pissed off it was taking him so long to pick himself off the ground. Sure he could run, he could dodge but really? He didn't have the strength to back any of it up. Glaring up at Alphys he remembered how hard he had to work to steal Leader of the Royal Guard from her. How even with that damned human Determination that Undyne injected into her all those years ago that he still was able to outwit her for the title. Was that it? Why she was still just so... strong after all this? Him, papyrus and basically the whole Guard were out of commission but she can still run back into the fray. Growing ever more pissed off he also knew that the magic boosts worked on her. She didn't have to work through recovery, she got the easy way.  
  
Grabbing his head Sans crumbled down on the floor wanting to scream again. He had an easy way too, he just didn't want to take it. In the distance he could hear Alphys sigh loudly. She was looking over his shaking curled form with pity and started gently walking over to him. Snapping up he glared at Alphys as she squad down next to him. "WHY DOES EVERYTHING JUST WORK FOR YOU?! I CAN'T EVEN FIGHT BACK!" Sans screamed at her face. "How the hell am I suppose to get leadership of the Guard back from you when you get all the magic boosts and help and none of it works for me?" Sans ranted and Alphys just stared for a moment.  
  
Soon she would pat his skull. "Look, go eat something, take a nap or whatever. Then come back with a fresh mind. I'll help you train but right now your just pissed off. Your only going to make your recovery worst." Sans would swat her hand away and glare. "Don't coddle me." Alphys gave no reaction when he snapped back at her but would stand up and offer a hand. After a moment he took it and let her help him off the floor. Once he was off the floor Sans would smack her hand away and start storming off. But just before he reached the door Sans turned around to made several rude gestures to the lizard and slam the door as he left. Alphys just stared at him boredly.  
  
Quickly Sans found himself alone in the kitchen and hated that he was following her advice, in fact it made him even more pissed off. Angrily he took the easy option and grabbed from the horde of cup noodles. Sitting on the corner like a rebellious teenage rather than the table to eat it. Sans nearly finished it when he looked around, suddenly... sad? At least annoyed that he was just alone. He took a moment but he finally realized it, it had been a very long time since he was just... by himself. And wasn't in so much pain that he couldn't think straight. Sure he was sore as hell getting smacked around by Alphys but after the failed magic booster he couldn't even sit up.  
  
Finishing his cup Sans just sat on the corner for a bit. He was still pretty pissed off and didn't think he was in the right mind space to go train. No way in hell was he going to check on his brother when he was still with Undyne in the computer room. Right now he would love to go outside... that honestly sounded nice. Big blue sky...  
  
 _Looking up the bright blue sky stretched beautifully from one horizon to the other. Not a cloud or sun in sight to taint it's color. It was hard to turn from it as it weighted down on him, threatening to crush him._  
  
Sans grabbed his head tightly. Upset that now even the sky was tainted in his fucked up mind. He couldn't believe just how awful all this was and just figured the effects of the gas were slowly making him lose it. The moment his claw caught his scar though Sans flinched and let go. The pain was still very much there and it reminded him that he was still without one eye. Yet another thing for him to be pissed off about. He need to learn out to deal with that quickly before he gets into real combat. Slowly the tension started to fade as Sans played various combat strategies in his head.   
  
Looking down at his emtpy cup he wondered if the woman every had come out today for food. If not he really should try to get her to eat, why did that always seem like a struggle? It was a little hard for him to believe that someone who was starved would ever forget to eat. Still sitting on the corner Sans crossed his ankles in thought. He already had forgotten a few times right? Maybe it wasn't that weird. Hoping down Sans started another cup for the woman and while he waited a thought struck him.  
  
He was suppose to be thinking of a name for her... Sighing heavily it was just hard with everything that has happened. Never even having the time to sit down and thinking about it. Not like he just knew a large pool of names either, but he had an idea. It would just take a bit of research though he still lacked a phone or internet connection. If Undyne's computers weren't having problems he would ask to borrow one but it looked like she had every one from around the lab hold up in that room. Glancing up as the noodles finished.  
  
Part of him knew this might just be an excuse to go check on her but at least it involved a good reason. Annoying the kitchen was almost on the complete other end of the lab but after a moment Sans reached the room. Looking down he already could tell it was dark inside from the door gap. Knocking somewhat loudly before answering Sans couldn't quite see inside at first. Walking in he could make on the woman laying face down on a pillow while hugging it. He would think she was asleep if not for the slight glimmer that came off of one of her eyes.  
  
Sans would stand in the doorway with his finger over the light switch. "I bought you another noodle cup, do you want to eat?" He couldn't see her reaction but slowly she would start to sit up and Sans finally flipped the light on now that she was getting up. Her movements were slow and shaky as her body struggled to sit up. At first Sans wanted to reach out to help but he wasn't sure if she was still extremely upset or he was guessing right and she was in pain for some reason. "Are you ok?" He spoke without much thought and she would sign 'no' before reaching for the cup.  
  
Unsure what to do he just handed her the cup and stood at her bedside. Something wasn't right but he was sure how to approach it. "Is there anything I can get you?" Sans poke softly and he was pretty she his tone carried his unease feeling with it. After a few bites the woman looked up him with a tired expression for a moment and Sans couldn't tell if he saw a sadness or pain in her eyes. At this point he was starting to guess both. Carefully she would hold her hand with her index and thumb close together, as if to show how tiny something was. Then move it over to her mouth as she was eating it. She wanted something small to eat? The look on his face caused her to sigh and just drop it for continue eating the noodles.  
  
It was at this time he realized that he REALLY should have brought something for her to write on before coming in here. "... you want something small to eat?" He got his asnwer quickly as she glared at him tapping her cup with her nail. Quickly realizing that was a no. Finishing her food quickly she would just lay back down on the pillow hugging it slowly letting out a pained moaned from the movement. Sans stared for a moment before sitting on the side of the bed making sure to watch her reaction carefully. She would glance up but quickly bury her face back down. It was frustrating to see her like this and wanted to reach out for her but wasn't sure. "You... look in a lot of pain. What is going on-?" Without looking up the woman raised a hand to the air and signed what looked like 'yes' over and over. For a moment Sans tried to figure out why she was in pain, she hadn't been since they left the forest right? Well besides what Alphys did to her. Thinking back he realized that she was on quite a few medications back at the hospital. He froze for a moment as he remembered that they were suppose to get her meds from the hospital. Slowly Sans tensed and closed his fist as he thought about the Lockdown. The two of them didn't have the chance to grab it before and his brother was in no condition to teleport.  
  
Would why open the lab for him to get it? Mentally he laughed. Undyne wants him to absorb her damn soul of course she wouldn't risk our safety just for her comfort. And he seriously doubt Undyne had any human medicine in the lab, it was like Undyne was the Monster version of that clipboard man from back in the room. It was like her damned lives research to torture the humans like the bastard did for monsters... maybe that's why Undyne freaked him out so much after returning? It didn't feel right to compare one of his 'friends' to them, Sans didn't like the connections that could come from that.  
  
The woman glanced up at Sans with a drowsy but still pained look and gestured for something small before tossing it into her own mouth. This time he was able to figure out quickly that she was asking for medicine. "You want your pills right? I'm sorry... we didn't get any before Guardship attacked the house." He watched her sadly slump back down. "Doubtful we have anything for humans in the lab either." Her body would tense up for a moment as she tightly squeezed the pillow that she was laying on. Letting out a low pained groan slowly before relaxing again. For a moment she laid unmoving but would raise a finger to point to the light.  
  
Sans glanced at it and remembered that she had it off before. Wordlessly he got up to turn it off and sat back down on the bed with her but keeping a little distance. Thankfully she didn't seem bothered by his presence as Sans felt the need to stay with her. He figured that since she did mention being in pain it was just to make sure everything was going to be ok... mostly ok anyway. Watching her Sans noticed how she was stroking her head lightly and would move his hand over. Hovering for a moment he questioned himself but would gently run his hand through her hand messaging her scalp. The woman lean her head into his hand a little while letting out a relaxed sigh. Encouraged Sans scooted to sit fully on the bed and started to give her the best damned head rub that he could.  
  
The woman whined for a moment as she lifted her head to look at him. her face twisted with conflict as she stared at him then down to his lap. Her body leaning more towards him. He wasn't completely sure what she wanted but- "It's ok." He told her and she would move like she wanted to lay her head in his lap but half way through the motion her body frozen. Just staring down at his lap as she seemed to mentally struggle with something. Sans kept a light hand on her head but didn't guide her one way or another. "It's ok." He repeated to her.   
  
She would violently grab the pillow that she had been laying on and shove it into his lap. Causing him to flinch not expecting to have something rammed against his pelvis. Letting herself drop onto the pillow in his lap, her arms wrapping around the base of his spine and the pillow. She clung tightly as her body started to shake again like she wanted to jump off of him. Sans couldn't tell and it was frustrating. Sighing he would just let it go and return his hand to her head, at first she flinched but he would start rubbing and the tension seemed to leave her.  
  
A free hand would raise as the woman signed 'sorry' at him. "It's ok." Sans continued to repeat and noticed how that free hand searched for something. Sans now used his free hand to touch herself and she clung to it. Holding his hand desperately and her other arm was around his spine holding the pillow. "It's ok." Sans continued to massage her head while drifting down to her neck and shoulder blades, just trying to give her as much comfort as he could know that she was in pain. Finding himself intrigued over her softer parts of skin, having only filled out a tiny bit since they escaped.


	33. Desperate

Sans found himself not minding the time wasted as she fell asleep in his lap. Letting his mind relax and just stop focusing on everything else. His free hand reaching out to explore her hair, neck, and shoulders. Not really finding the need to reach down anywhere else. Softly noticing the difference from now and before, filling out the tiniest bit between her bones. He knew it would be a slow recovery for her but smiled at the progress so far.  
  
As the door opened though Sans sighed. The light coming in for a moment allowed him to see a small part of the scar from Alphys on her skin. Thankfully the door close closed quickly and quietly as Papyrus came closer. Sans took note how he could tell it was him in without looking... was it the sound of his walk? As Papyrus quietly came into view Sans caught him glancing at her and him strangely. Papyrus stared down at the human with her head buried in a pillow on his brother crotch and his hand on her head. "Heh." He let out quietly only to receive a glare from Sans. Raising a hand Papyrus signed. "dont blow your top off but Al made food" The taller skeleton quietly smirked at his own joke. Sans on the other hand just continued to glare until his brother stopped. While Sans dominant hand was still holding the woman's hand in her sleep he used the other to sign back. "her medicine?"  
  
Papyrus frozen at the question as his mind raced for an asnwer. Rapidly becoming awkward as the realization set in. "well that explains all this" He would gesture to the sexually awkward cuddle the two had. "and her mood, I'll look into it." Papyrus finished signing and Sans used sign to thank him. Once his brother left Sans placed a hand back onto her head gently and sighed. It was bothering him how his brother was starting to make whatever the two were doing sexual. At least he had enough sense to sign and not wake her up. Sans needed to make a mental note to tell Papyrus off enough so he stops. He was sure continue comments and glances like that would just keep setting her off mentally. In no way that could be helpful for her and besides Sans knew first hand how awful having something so small set off his own deteriorating mind.  
  
Tracing his hand back into her hair Sans mistakenly clipped her ear which caused her to stir. Carefully he watched her wake up. Her grip tightening around him and her hand flexing in his own. Her face turning to rub into the pillow and the little coo she made as she was leaving whatever dream she was having. Lifting her head Sans let go of it and the met each other eyes for a moment. Quickly her expression changed to horror and Sans wasn't sure if it was the position that she woke up in or the fact she was being touched. But he also knew that whatever it was, it wasn't going to make complete sense. Neither of them worked like that it seemed. Quickly she would use her free hand to slam down on the pillow and try to push herself up to sit. Sans did his best not to flinch as there was a sudden pressure on his pelvis from this.  
  
Sans would continue to hold her other hand and speak gently. "It's ok, I'm here." Shamefully the woman looked down but would lean in, placing her head against his rib cage. He would bring his free hand up once more to massage through her hair. "It's ok." Sans repeated and the woman breathed and relaxed. Between the two of them she would be signing something repeatedly but Sans couldn't see from the angle and after a moment he just changed the subject. "Heard there is some real food made, feel like eating?" She would think on it for a moment before shaking in her no. Sans glanced at her empty ramen and didn't think that was enough but figured she must not have an appetite from the pain.  
  
Carefully the woman leaned back from Sans' chest and looked up at him. Her expression was neutral but also at ease. Sans smiled at her for a moment until he realized she was trying to say something. With her free hand the woman signed water but raised it above her head and dumped it like a glass she was holding. He really didn't know as he assumed she was explaining something with water not wanting a glass of it. It wouldn't take long for her to get frustrated and started moving off the bed. Sans followed but she seemed to be dragging him along. Carefully holding him as he realized that the woman was shaky on her feet. Finally letting go of her hand he used both of his own to help her and and soon walk.  
  
Leading the two of them the woman rounded out of the room and towards the bathroom. It wasn't hard to figure from there that she wanted a shower and Sans helped her walk over there. Once inside the woman exhausted sat down on the closed toilet to catch her breath before looking up to Sans. Pinching her shirt and popping it trying to gesture for a new one, then opening her arms and wrapping them around herself asking for a towel. Sans took a moment to sign these back to her so she could see what the symbols looked like. "Do you need any help...?" Sans shyly asked and she signed no. For a moment he pouted remembering how she could barely stand. "You sure? Don't want you falling and getting hurt." He couldn't help but chuckle speaking, watch this be the way she hurts herself after everything they have been through. The woman shook her head no then started waving her hands away from herself, shooing him away. Sans took the hint and exited the bathroom, for a moment he leaned against the outside wall waiting to make sure she didn't need anything else. But after no noise, not even the shower starting he got a little worried. Turning to open the door she would beat him too it. Pouting the woman would lightly hit him and shoo him again dramatically. Grumpy Sans really got the hint this time and walk away. He could give her some space while he found something else for her to wear.  
  
Walking through the lab Sans only needed to follow the voices to the kitchen where Papyrus and Undyne were still sitting at the table while Alphys was putting away food. "I didn't think you were coming!" Alphys yelled and started to pull out fresh leftovers from the fridge. Sans held up a hand to signal for her to stop but the lizard didn't. 'Ah no Alphys, I just came to get a fresh pair of clothes for-" Sans would be interrupted. "Your skipping food for what now?" Papyrus sighed and Sans could tell he was resisting saying more. Alphys slammed the food on the table and looked over to the two taller monsters. "Hey if he wants to take care of his girl then that's fine. Undyne go find something cute." The lizard's tail swayed back and forth happily as Alphys thought she was being the bigger understanding one. Undyne started laughing and Papyrus just groaned into his hands.  
  
Sans glared at the three. "She isn't 'mine' she is-" Once again Sans would be interrupt and growl lightly in annoyance. "OH! -it's not official?" Alphys head snapped over to Undyne who was now headfirst in the table giggling so hard that she was starting to cry. Papyrus switch from looking like he wanted to die to glaring at Undyne. "Either way, Dyne get the hell out of here and get the clothes." Papyrus spat with an annoyed tone and Sans noticed his brother turning back to him. "Why not just sit and eat while ...Undyne goes and gets those?" He would emphasize towards the fish and she finally lifted herself from the table still letting out a chuckle here and there. "Ok ok." Once the fish left Sans moved over to the table and looked at the slop Alphys made.  
  
While Sans looked at it like it was slop purely so Alphys wouldn't see him impressed. It was some sort of curry and rice but the way it was plated in the leftover container made it seem stunning. He would also eat it like it tasted shit but Alphys fully knowing her cooking was good and would just smirk being smug as she watched him eat it. Sans wasn't about to admit it tasted amazing. Alphys would sit back down at the table near Sans. "Anyway- you feeling any better? After our little play fight I've been itching to do some real training for you. Don't worry we can start out slow and light since I know you don't have the magic for it yet." Sans paused eating to asnwer. "...sure." Before continuing to eat, not really liking the reminder of his own weaken state. Alphys didn't seem to notice and sat happily. "Right so after your done helping your...human? Think we can get started?"  
  
Placing down his fork Sans didn't feel like eating anymore, not that he was hungry to begin with. "That sounds fine Alphys." Quickly it would become quite between the three and Alphys ended up taking away what Sans didn't finish. Leaving the two brothers at the table. "Oh bro, I called and the hospital said that it will be ok for her to be off the meds since we can't get them. Lot of vitamins and stuff- Though she might not feel well since some were painkillers. Just got to watch to made sure she eats and drinks and whatnot." Sans smiled at the news and relaxed a bit. "Thanks for checking into that." Papyrus nodded and looked down as he was on his phone and Sans stared at it for a moment before a thought struck him. "Is it possible to get me a new cellphone?" His brother perked up at the question. "Oh yeah... it is. Sorry I forgot about it after Guardship... used it." Papyrus would get a bit awkward. "Called every number on it, had to shut it off." Sans would nod as he figured it was either destroyed or shut off by now. Quickly Undyne would walk back in the room and place the clothing and towel on the table near Sans.  
  
Undyne was bright and cheerful as she spoke. "Oh Sans! Me and Papyrus were talking about it and I wanted to ask-" She paused to see Sans reaction but papyrus would speak up. "Wait Undyne-" He would hold a hand to signal her before looking Sans with a serious a face. "You willing to talking about a magic boost again? We have a new idea involving her." Sans was given a moment to think about it. It made him angry that they would even bother mentioning it after basically telling him that he should absorb her soul. How did they think they were going to involve her? Sans could feel some sort of bile stir in his gut thinking about what bullshit idea they had. "No." Sans simply stated and stood, taking the clothes with him he could hear them talking as he left.  
  
"Wait- It's not-" Undyne would start and Sans could hear a shift. "Undyne drop it if he doesn't want to then don't bother." His brother spoke and Sans moved himself quickly out of hearing range. As he paced himself quickly through the halls Sans couldn't take his mind off Undyne's crazed face when telling him to absorb her soul. Part of him he didn't want to admit that he would if she was... dying. But otherwise? No way. Hell the thought of him even holding her soul again scared him after that dream. He was just so low on magic that Sans wasn't sure if he could trust himself. Even more so knowing that they might be a chance that is why his magic started returning in the first place. Sighing he knew that he was desperate but if he never put temptation in front of his face then it would never become a problem.  
  
Walking into the bathroom it was still steamy inside but the shower wasn't running. Behind the curtain he could hear the movement of a body of water and realized that she was taking a bath. And that he just walked right in- "Sorry. Got you clothes and a towel." Quickly he heard a bit of movement in the water as her arm came out from the edge of the curtain giving him a thumbs up then quickly pointing down to tell him where to place the items. But he could see just a sliver of her flushed face from the small opening of the curtain. "Need anything else?" Sans asked as he placed down the items, getting a thumbs down as a reply. "You sure?" He chuckled quietly as now he got a thumbs up. "Want me to wait for you?" He wasn't too sure why he asked that and got a thumbs down before she flicked her hand shooing him away. Sans figured the woman was fine and just relaxing, leaving quickly to let her be.  
  
Not really having anything else to do Sans headed for the training room. Entering it he realized it was empty and Sans took the rare opportunity to test himself against the weight settings Alphys had. But after from strained lifting and pushing Sans quickly realized how bad of an idea that was, but at least he could move them slightly. So mentally he could pretend to be proud of himself at least. Moving from the weights Sans would find a practice dummy and drag it to the middle of the room. Pacing around it and sizing it up he was trying to figure out how best to approach it since it was taller than him. Sure he could just start randomly kicking and hitting but-  
  
Sans grabbed where the 'arm' of the dummy would be and lift himself up. Quickly twisting his body and kicking the 'face' of it, next using the momentum of his falling would shove the dummy off balance. As it fell over Sans pushed off of it and made a subpar landing. Taking a moment to get back on his own feet Sans looked over the fallen dummy with crossed arms. Without a decent supply of magic or strength to back up his movements he felt forced to avoid or disable an opponent. But with a targeting dummy it was something that didn't attack first so he couldn't use a brutes strength against themselves. Sans would upright the dummy easily.  
  
Leaning down Sans angled himself to jump as high as he could. Once in the air he would kick the 'face' once more with the top of his foot. Bending a knee Sans was able to pull himself closer while pushing the dummy off balance. As it fell Sans could straighten himself to be standing on it as it hit the ground. He took a moment to relish the feeling on having something under his foot again. Finding it quite easy to replace the dummy with a few certain bastard's faces. Assuming they didn't run deep deep into the wilderness during the last raid the Royal Guard did. Sans might get his chance to make that little fantasy a reality.  
  
Content with that thought Sans moved off the dummy by stepping onto the base bar, putting all his weight onto it in a lazy way of standing it back up. It would snap up quickly and bump him in the back. Sans cursed as he almost fell over and turned to glare back at the dummy. It gave no reaction as it was only a dummy. "I saw that." Sans snapped around to see Alphys leaning on the doorway to the training room. Gracefully Sans flipped off Alphys before ignoring her. While Sans went back top sizing up the threatless opponent as Alphys strode over.  
  
Standing next to him she would raise a foot and kick the dummy hard. Causing it to slide back about a foot without falling over. But Sans could see how the soft material the dummy was made out of was dented in, taking a few seconds to expand back out. "Why are you practicing aerial stuff? I wouldn't ever think to start on that crap." She would place her hands on her own hips as she brought the kicking foot to the ground. Sans sighed and looked down at the ground. "Can't use magic enough to be viable, don't have any strength, can't really practice dodging with a dummy. Why not test out take downs?" He would look up to see her reaction. Alphys thought about it for a moment as she walked over to the dummy.  
  
Quickly she would grab it's 'head' and slam it into the ground, then kicking it away from it. leaving it on the floor she huffed and turned back to the skeleton. "I suppose but really? I think you should practice magic." Sans felt his face sour as she spoke but would listen. "And before you start in with the 'I can't' crap, I'm going to show you how." Moving back quickly Alphys stopped in front of Sans and held out her own hands, facing them upwards as she summoned the spark of one of her spears. "Short asnwer is mediate. But I've had been gassed more times than I can count so just trust me for a second. It might sound a little stupid."  
  
Sans was already making a face at her but choose to say quiet just to see how this goes. "Whatever that gas is made out of... yeah? All it is some fancy powder, it covers everything that is you. And monsters are everything magic, but unless they get you enough to instantly dust you. You aren't fully covered. So bits and pieces of magic is untouched, scattered deep down somewhere and holding you together. Undyne says the booster works by giving a monster something to build magic off of? Well rather than building off that... you take the first piece of untouched magic and hold it. When you got a firm grip you can try to reach for the next without losing the first. Basically take baby steps and keep working on summoning your own magic together. You get enough together and it sticks, you have made your own 'base' as Undyne puts it."  
  
Alphys would slowly build her spark fully into a spear. Standing right next to it Sans was able to take a closer look at it. The light hitting it shined various other colors like orange, blue, and red than just her own yellow magic. It sent a chill down his spine as Sans realized how many different monsters have boosted her and how it has stained her magic. Sighing Sans would try to ignore this and raise his own hands while looking down at them. "No it makes sense I guess." He would finally reply to her and Alphys smiled. "Sometimes it helps me to focus on what each spark would look like. Maybe you can think of each like little babybones?" She would chuckle at the thought. Pausing Sans would try to imagine what his magic looked like right now.  
  
_A never ending field covered in white dust, purple flowers scattered far throughout._  
  
He felt his one good eyelight go out for a moment after thinking about that dream. It plagued him to remember how daunting of a task it was to gather each out. There was no way he could have the strength for it right? "Hey you ok?" Alphys would wave her hand in front of his face and Sans snapped back aware. "Yeah sorry... Just thinking of how to do it. I can... try to work with that." Looking back down at his hands Sans heard Alphys cheer. "That's the spirits! Here lets start together." She would nod and take a small step back giving each of them space. Sans could already see her summoning the spark of magic in her hands easily.  
  
Closing his eyes Sans would try to focus on his purple magic. It bubbled in his mind and each time he reached for it seemed to slip and float away from him. Relaxing with a deep breath he would imagine himself in a void. Only allowing his magic to show through the darkness. But it seemed to still bubble away from him and he couldn't reach it. maybe he should just be happy that it was there and he could sense it? Focusing down Sans felt a little defeated  as he couldn't get a 'base' or 'start' it. Wallowing in his defeat for a moment Sans would think back to the dream. Those flowers would bubble off magic but he was only able to grab what it held after touching the base.  
  
In his mind Sans would reach down and 'touch' a piece of his magic or 'flower' in this case. "Hey you got it started!" Sans heard Alphys and opened his eyes to see how big her spark had gotten. But in doing so Sans lost focus and the purple spark in his own hands disappeared. "Aw shit, didn't mean to distract you." Alphys smiled and quieted herself for Sans to refocus. It made him wonder why this dream felt so important, besides making him realized the possible result of absorbing the woman's soul. Distracting himself from the thought Sans thought back into his mind and looked out but saw nothing expect a void. Without any to focus on it gave him more time to think and would think back to the day. He had that dream right after holding her soul? It that why it was so vivid? He figured it was only because of the stress of the day. Was it weird to think that maybe it meant something more than what he was seeing?  
  
It was a very silly distracting thought.  
  
Sans would refocus and try to bring the magic that his body already had forward. Just trying to  hold and make it stable. A comforting feeling washed over him as he thought maybe this was some self soothing but would start to sense something else. Opening his eyes Sans looked to the closed door of the gym. Somehow he could tell she was coming and he didn't really care how he knew but was happy to know she was up and moving around. Suddenly Alphys would twitch and Sans snapped up to look at her. She was deep in some focus as her spark had grow huge. In a quick motion Alphys would transform her spark into a spear and protectively shove Sans behind her. In a moment of instinct Alphys would launch a spear at the human presence. Her blood already boiling but turned cold in an instant.  
  
"ALPHYS!!" Sans screamed as he shoved the small spark of magic he had at Alphys' spear.  
  
Opening the door the woman had a tired smile on her face and seemed excited about something. Looking up she froze as two forces of magic came straight at her. Unable to understand what even happened she stood like a deer caught in headlights.  
  
Sans watched as his magic sent Alphys spear off course just enough to not fatally hit the woman. But would slash past part of her neck and cheek causing blood to splatter on the door she was still holding from trying to enter the room. The two monsters watched her stand frozen as her eyes gazed over before her body fall slowly to the ground. "Fuck! Shit!" Alphys screamed as she ran out and Sans followed. "Damnit I didn't mean too Sans I'm sorry!" Sans damn near slide on the floor to her. Looking over quickly she was still alive and most likely had just fainted. The cuts didn't even look at deep as the ones Alphys put on her when they first met. None of these facts made Sans feel any better about that situation though.  
  
Quickly Sans would pick up the woman and bring her into the training room. "I can not believe that you don't have at least some control over yourself Alphys. Seriously." Alphys groaned loudly while racing around the room, quickly bringing over some bandages that one would normally use to wrap their fists with. Sans used them the best he could but it was a bit awkward as he couldn't just wrap it around her face. The two would settle on just controlling the bleeding until it clotted. As it did they looked over the passed out woman with the blood mess covering her, them, the floor and broken door.  
  
For a moment Sans just stared down at the bits of blood on his hands. Bringing him back to the room as he could picture her face as she tried to scream. When that bastard cut her hand open and flung blood towards him. Sighing deeply Sans would try to push that thought deep down in his mind. "Alphys... is this really going to be a continued problem? Because we can just keep you two from seeing either other. The lab is big enough..." he would ask and bring a hand up to the woman's forehead checking how hot she was.  
  
Alphys would sit down cross-legged next to Sans and the woman on the floor. Placing her hands on her knees in thought. "No... I'm getting better. I know that she isn't a threat like other humans I just-" She would sigh trying to put her thoughts into words. "I put myself mentally in the fight for our practice, building it up ready to lash out. I just sense a human and started to lashed out but I realize the moment I sent out the attack that I messed up." Sans heard the lizards tail snap on the ground behind her. "Guess that really isn't enough huh? Yeah we can figure something out... I'm good for right now though." Alphys would stare down the human woman and Sans could see the conflict cross over her face with worry in the mix. And even though he wasn't comfortable it didn't feel like she would attack again right now. So Sans didn't mind Alphys staying.  
  
Glancing back down at the woman he noticed that even though she was asleep her face twisted with some discomfort. But something else started to stew in his mind. "You are so strong Alphys, nearly nothing brings you down and if it does you snap right back up. And I know it's partly because of what Undyne did to you but it's just... hard sometimes. I can't measure up like that." There was a moment of silence between the two before Alphys groaned. "Don't start with that, you were the one long ago to take Guard Leadership from me. I'm sure we can get you back where you were... and don't sound jealous." She would look to the side. "What I let Undyne do to me... still messes with me to this day. Sure I doubt a single person can dust me but it's got some nasty side effects."  
  
Side effects... it echoed in Sans mind. Sometimes it felt like she had it easy but yes. There were side effects and watching this woman he knew they was a chance at getting some as well. But the worst right now in his mind would just be losing her. He wasn't even sure why but assumed for the loss of the emotional support. As his brother said. They shared something because of what they went through together. Breaking his thoughts the woman stirred and Sans leaned in closer.  
  
Her body tensed up even before her eyes opened. Quickly her hand would reach up for her neck as she held in in pain. Letting out small squeaks that Sans assumed were her trying to say ow repeatedly. Opening her eyes she lazily looked around her trying to figure out just want happened. But catching sight of Alphys the woman snapped sitting up and reached for Sans almost hiding behind him. Fear and confusion spread across her face and Alphys deflated. The lizard lowered her head in shame as she spoke. "I'm sorry for attacking you, I'm sorry for doing so before. It's hard but I'm trying to get better." Alphys looked up to see the hurt expression over the humans face.  
  
The woman snapped her mouth open and yelled words that did not come out as anything but aired huffs. Her arms swung quickly to point to her own chest then snapping an accusing finger at Alphys. Soon it became to painful to try and force her words and brought her hand to her throat rubbing it. Her body starting to curl into a shaking crying mess. Sans next to her would pull her close trying to comfort her while Alphys snapped up. After a moment search she would bring back paper and pen for the woman. Neither of the monsters in the room feeling the right to speak right now. Through crying eyes the woman looked up at the paper and snatched it away from Alphys. Slapping it on the ground Sans watched closely as she angrily wrote. "WHY ME" Before tossing it as hard as she could back at Alphys. Quickly the woman stood up and used both her hands to gesture towards her own chest again. Screaming out the best she could as what noise she was making came out broken, cracked, and pain. She would move her hands to showcase herself then outward before moving them back towards herself. Shaking the woman finally let her head drop to stare at the floor as she clenched both fists tightly at her sides and just scream.  
  
It was the loudest Sans had heard her at and got up quickly when her body started to sway. The woman desperate to speak nearly made herself pass out again from trying to force it. Once she felt Sans holding her body she leaned into slightly. Smacking both her hands to her hand to cry wildly. Sans looked back at Alphys as she was still sitting on the floor frozen with guilt. The lizard taking in just how bad she had upset the human and Sans would mouth a sorry to her before turning back to the woman. She would pull away but kept a hand on his arm, trying to make him follow her out of the room. He had no complaint and would leave Alphys and go with the woman.  
  
Once outside the woman found a wall and collapse down the face of it with her back. Sans would go down with her and pull her into a hug. "I'm sorry." He repeated not knowing what else to say, he refused to tell her to calm down. She had almost been killed by Alphys twice now she had every right to be this upset. Sans would grab her face and force her to look at him. She would reach up and grab onto both sides of his collar bone, digging in with her nails desperately. In that moment she was able to focus on Sans and he could tell that she was focusing on his broken eye. But he would watch her own eyes, the frenzied desperation turning into a realization.  What she realized he didn't know but she would place her hand on her own chest then smack him in the same spot across his rib cage. Glancing down it looked like she was grabbing something then pushing it towards him. And that fact it was right over both of their souls made him feel sick. "I don't want to think of what your implying." He spoke softly to her as he closed his eyes. It was completely possible she was referring to something else but all he could think of is him taking her soul, or rather her offering it.  
  
Annoyed the woman would force herself up against the wall and through Sans grip. Taking his forearm she roughly pulled him up to his feet and started to drag him down the hall. "What are you doing?" Sans asked but the woman gave no reply and didn't even look back. Sans started to pull against her and when they finally stopped because he was starting to out strength her the woman finally looked back at him. Something was determined in her face but the grief and tears still had not disappeared yet. Taking both hands she would start pulling his forearm. Sans grounded himself confused but pulled back. "WHAT?" He yelled and she would just slam her eyes shut and use her whole body backwards in effort to pull him.  
  
Waving his forearm up then snapping it down quickly he was back to break her grip and the woman fell backwards. "What is going on now? What are you trying to drag me towards?" Normally Sans wouldn't doubt her but as she brought her hand up to her chest then gestured like she was gifting him something, he felt like something was wrong. No between how upset she was and how hard she was trying to force him something was completely wrong.  
  
Looking up Sans noticed Papyrus and Undyne coming out from there computer lab and Sans realized that she was dragging him towards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a random note I'm not sure if the title matches the chapter, oh well.


	34. Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This starts in the middle of last chapter and is mostly a Papyrus POV.

Papyrus looked up to see the human entering the kitchen. She was wearing some cute dress of Undyne's but it nearly hit the floor on her as she was no were close to Undyne's height. Quickly he noticed how she smelled and looked clean too, even her hair was still a little damp. Lazily the woman would wave hi before signing. "water drink" Surprisingly manged to signed correctly and he would get up with a chuckle. Glancing at Undyne as he got up she was focused hard on the woman but acting aloof. For a moment the two caught each others eyes and he could see a spark, the two of them had a chance if they played their cards right.   
  
Quickly he returned with the glass and set it on the table. "Hey come sit with us for a moment. Alphys and Sans are off doing there own thing." The woman watched for a moment before carefully sitting down a bit nervous. But would chug the water after sitting down. Breathing a sigh of relief and relaxing for the moment. Papyrus glanced at Undyne once more before leaning causally towards the table. "Glad to see your up, Sans mentioned how being off your meds was." The woman would nod in reply and would sign, "its ok" before looking a little sad.   
  
Papyrus nodded. "And I know me, Undyne and hell, even Alpyhs haven't been all that good to you. I know I've said some things I shouldn't have and Undyne-" He would gesture towards the fish and for a split second she didn't pick up on it. "Ah?- Right. I'm sorry too, I get so focused on certain things I didn't take time to help and caused grief for you and Sans." Undyne glanced back and papyrus would pick it up. "Between everything happening too we had a hard time, but that isn't much of an excuse. So we have been trying to make things right. But right now? I don't think there is anything we can do to help you." He would lean back in his chair and place a sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry."   
  
The woman signed yet again that it is ok and Papyrus sighed a little dramatically. "But you know what? Me and Undyne think we really have a way to help Sans. But after what happened, we want to make sure it will work before trying it on him. But we need some help." The woman leaned back in her own chair looking nervous and Papyrus wasn't too sure if he was losing her or not. "We are extremely worried about him, magic is everything for monsters. And he has gone so long with barely any. If he pushes himself too hard he might just dust himself."  
  
In that moment the woman started to serious pay attention. Papyrus continued. "But he just refuses to try anything because of what happened... and none of us can bear to lose him. You understand right?" The woman nodded to papyrus and glanced at Undyne, she would nod back. "What we have been doing is taking the smallest of drops of his magic to pretest out things without much luck. But we found out that you... you might be the cause of his magic return. And no matter how little came back it's way more than what we can come up with. So if your willing to help us we can make sure Sans condition doesn't get any worst." Papyrus nodded. "We are really concerned about him dying."  
  
Moving up Papyrus would carefully walk over to the side of the table the woman was sitting at. Gently offering a hand to her. "Right now you are the only lead we have... will you help us?" He would put on the best desperate face that he could and waited. The woman stared at him for a moment as he searched for something in her eyes. But she looked away before he could find something. Her eyes drifted to his extended hand as the woman gripped at her borrowed clothes. Papyrus could tell that she knew something was off but after giving it some thought she would reach for his hand anyway.  
  
Guiding her up Papyrus placed a grateful face on. "Thank you so much, lets head over to the lab and we can explain more." She would nod and Papyrus would guide her along. Undyne following closely trying to keep quiet. Once in the computer room the woman would be lead to a side futon with a table in front of it. On the table sat the magic booster which she would stare at with fear.   
  
Undyne would bring over a magically sealed vial and sit on the table to be eye level with the human. "This is what we mean, this tiny drop is Sans' magic." She would give the woman a moment to look at the purple glowing drop of liquid magic. She would raise her hands and Undyne would nervously let the human hold it. Gently the woman ran her fingers over the glass of the vial and rub the part where the magic sat. There was no reaction in the vial not that anyone excepted one. Papyrus would sit next to her on the couch and explain. "What we are thinking is at one point Sans was exposed to your magic- soul energy. He has mentioned something like that before." Undyne would cut in as Papyrus talked.  
  
"If that is what caused his magic to flare up then maybe using the magic booster it can bring him out of the danger zone. But to test it we would take just a drop of your own... energy. And we can see how it reacts, if it blows like when we mixed before with Sans then we will stop. But we can safely test it here and now." Undyne finished as she noticed Papyrus bring a hand to the womans. Carefully he would cup her hands holding the vial. "We at our wits end and Sans is so afraid of everything that he won't try, please. Will you help?" The two monsters watched her close her eyes thinking about it. Her fingers continued to gently rubbing the glass of the vial as she thought.  
  
After the pause she would open her eyes again and nod. Giving the vial back to Undyne. For a moment Undyne had a hard time moving as she couldn't believe this was going to work. Papyrus distract the woman while Undyne collected herself. "Thank you, really. I'm so sorry for what Ive done before and I don't know know how I could repay you." The woman shook her head no and papyrus thanked her again. Undyne distracted herself as she set up the booster. Placing the vial on the receiving end and adjusting the levels on the machine. Nervous as it was not built for humans.  
  
Once ready Papyrus sat hip to hip with the woman as she quickly became uncomfortable with the contact. But since she wasn't pulling away so Papyrus ignored it. "Alright, I'm going to draw out your soul. We are only going to have you hooked up for a moment, we just need a drop alright?" He would ask and she nodded. Moving his hand down to her chest papyrus would gently pull the green soul out of her body. It lit the area with it's glow and Papyrus noticed Undyne face as ideas sprang in her mind. He would have to ask her later about it.  
  
The woman became entranced by her own soul. It would shift shades of green in various swirled patterns in connection to each emotion she was feeling in real time. Papyrus watched and was confused, had she not see her own soul before? Didn't Sans already pull it once before? A sinking feeling invaded his chest as he realized that he stole a special moment like this from his brother. But also found himself not too upset as he got to see the wonder of a human seeing there soul for the first time. There was a sort of peace that washed over her as the woman reached out. Her hands holding her very essence gently.   
  
It made him feel bad for what he was about to do. Papyrus slowly brought the connector up and the woman tensed up right before it was put in. It had the smallest of needles but still needed to pierce her very soul to be connected. The body that was just in peace suddenly jolted in pain as the light the soul gave off dimmed. The green soul energy raced through the machine to crash into the vial almost looking ready to burst. Quickly Undyne shut off the machine after only being connected barley longer than a second. Papyrus held the woman close against him as he disconnected her soul, her body shook hard from the confusing pain. Papyrus thought back to the first time he was boosted, it was like something violating your very being. But he figured that she had felt something like that many times over, she could handle this. "It's all normal it will go away." He would comfort her and Undyne held up the vial for the three to see.  
  
It would swirl with purple and green for a moment as the magic mixed. Quickly the vial glowed purple as the green sank to the bottom and became the base for the the drop of Sans magic. It would dissolve rapidly and quickly be absorbed causing the green to just disappear in the intense glow of purple. "Wow it's like a glow stick." Undyne would point out as she looked over the vial. Quickly she would take it away to do some final tests and Papyrus have the woman a gently hug. "Do you see that? It worked!" He would notice her smiling as the vial before it was taken away but her face was worn and she could barely sit up on her own. "What to lay down for a moment?" The woman nodded quickly. Papyrus would take a moment to make sure the woman was comfort laying down and thankful that she fell asleep quickly. Racing over to Undyne, Papyrus looked over her shoulder at the vial setup she had. "Papyrus..." Undyne would look up and he focused on her. "This worked... too well. What if-" She paused and looked over to make sure the woman was asleep. "She is a kindness soul, a green soul. The color of healing magic- if we used this on other monsters?-" She paused not sure how to bring it to words.  
  
For a moment papyrus thought about it. This might be the level of cure good, right now monsters were just using each others magic to deal with the symptoms but not getting much better. If they could spread this around or use her to boost each guard they wouldn't have to worry about the gas. They might be able to make the final push towards ending this. But would her soul survive being split that much? Would Sans... let them use her like a blood bag for monsters? "We will have to wait and see Undyne." He knew his brother wouldn't allow it but if it came down to it. But would he stop them if they had a monster dying in front of them? Would Sans risk the life of a guard over her discomfort?  
  
It did cross his mind that any human might work but- If Sans' first boost taught them anything. Each party needs to be willing or someone might just get killed. And he highly doubted finding another willing human. Looking down at undyne the two of them needed to play their cards right for it to work.  
  
The two monsters froze as the woman started to stir already. Papyrus nodded to Undyne and walked over to the woman. "Up already? You got like maybe five minutes of sleep." The woman looked up at Papyrus while holding her chest. He could tell her soul was still hurting but since she was up and moving that it would be fine. "Do you feel like getting up?" He asked quietly and the woman nodded. "Would you be willing to tell Sans about what we found out? Coming from you he might just be willing to try it." In the background papyrus noticed how Undyne got on edge for the question.  
  
For a moment the woman didn't seem to hear but would nod. She seemed exhausted and almost ready to fall over but there was a deep smile on her face. She seemed genuinely happy and excited. Her sore heart pulsed rapidly as she found a way to finally he pay him for everything. As soon as she could get up she raced out to tell Sans.  
  
After the woman left the room Undyne spoke up. "Listen... what if Sans needs more than a small boost? Think that human is going to survive that and then other monsters?" Papyrus crossed his arms thinking about it. "If... he doesn't get better from just a small portion. He might just need to absorb it all." Undyne would huff. "He isn't going to do it."   
  
Papyrus hummed for a moment in thought. "If we just left the machine on... wouldn't it just transfer everything?"   
  
Undyne froze in thought. " ...force him to absorb the soul?"   
  
No one answered that question.  
  
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.  
  
.  
  
Undyne would turn back to the vial. "I'll have to test out how this compares to my old determination notes. Kindness is decently weak compared in other rankings but it still might be useful. Monsters after absorbing human souls do become powerful weapons." She would explain and papyrus turned away and fold his arms. "I'm not going to let you experiment on my brother." Undyne would reply quickly. "I know. Just know that Sans might have trouble controlling that energy with his wild nature. I know he is mellow now but before all this happened, Sans wasn't the kind of person I vote for a stable subject for soul absorption." Papyrus thought about it for a moment. "...so lets agree, only if he means his life right? Because I do understand that you mean, but I'd rather risk it than losing him down the line." He explained and could hear Undyne tapping something on the desk. "Either way could end up losing him, really there is no option completely safe." Undyne sighed after speaking.  
  
"We will just have to see how it goes. Adjust from there... But for now-" He would turn back and point to the computer. "Can you run some stress test on the sample? Hopefully the woman won't take long bring Sans so lets use the time to make sure everything is going to work."  He would hover Undyne and noticed how she nodded before inserting the vial into some case. Quickly connecting it to a machine as he could hear some sort of pressure added. Papyrus would move away as this was getting into knowledge that he didn't have.  
  
Going to the small stack of papers on the edge of the desk Papyrus sighed. They were damaged from decontamination earlier but as able to make out some of what the woman wrote. But it didn't really matter anymore, Guardship had tried to kill her once. Good chance they changed any information that she might have known. He was honestly surprised that any of it originally worked. Were they really that dumb? Did they think that she was never going to be able to reach a computer again, or to ever find help? Bring up several bits of information the two saved from Undyne's bricked hard-drives. Then matched it to public records Papyrus noticed how a decent chuck of higher ranked... or at least publicly ranked Guardship had some relationship. Most obvious was last name. Good chance a decent of them were related and the group did seem to value family along with human 'rights' for propaganda. He would start trying to match names with any public information and pictures he could find.  
  
Bring out a list Papyrus could feel Undyne watching him but didn't say anything. Carefully Papyrus went through each woman on the list and narrowed a few down that kinda looked like her. Though it was hard since none of them were in bad health, really changed how she overall looked if one of these woman were her. Once getting the list down to three he dug even deeper into them. Finding that two of them were still active to a point on social media, complete with Guardship propaganda. The last one didn't come up at all and it took some unfortunate searches to find out why.  
  
 **DECEASED**  
  
Assuming Papyrus was even close to the right person it was a bit shocking but did make some sense. Can't violate the rights of someone being a human rights group if they don't exist. Searching for a reason he had to dig through the bullshit Guardship posted. A vague post about her being killed by a monster when they first were released as about all he found. But already knew how little truth they posted so it wasn't out of reason to assume this was a lie as well. Speaking of which papyrus realized how little she was mentioned besides how she was killed by a monster. For someone that was a publicly higher ranked person it was strange. "Hey Papyrus." Undyne would call out and when he turned over she was pointing at one of the monitors. "Looks like they are fighting in the hallway." Closing everything he found Papyrus came over to see the tug of war his brother and the human were having. After glancing at each other the two left the room to find them.

The two would come out to the woman on the floor crying with dried blood and bandages on her. Sans looked scared and almost ready to run away plus when he looked up at himself Papyrus he just saw dread. Figuring the woman did a poor job of trying to bring him back. "Geez what the hell happened to you two?" Papyrus asked with a concerned voice.  
  
Sans took a step back getting defensive. "No what the hell are you all trying to do here? What did you tell her?" Sans looked down at the woman as she gestured from her chest to him once more. Undyne would step forward. "Sans listen. We got the booster to work with her. We are able to help you now." She would explain and Sans snapped with anger.  
  
"I'm not risking it! I've been working with Alphys and can work on getting my magic back on my own! We don't need to do this!" He would yell as the fear of her soul drained away came to him. Sighing papyrus held out his hand and tried his best to summon magic. Painfully he was able to forcibly teleport the vial from the room into his hand. Undyne flinched knowing whatever test she was running was now ruined. "Look at this Sans. This is your magic after we used her to boost it. It's been tested and it will work, both of you will be fine." Sans flinched looking at the vial.  
  
His eyes focused on how bright and powerful the magic glowed. Almost feeling himself drawn to it. "You..." He started to feel himself hyperventilate- "... you already did that to her?!" Scrapping herself from the ground the woman would be signing 'its ok' repeatedly until she crashed into him. With a desperate smile on her face he saw her look so sad yet so happy. Her hands shaking and he could feel the small pull as she tried to bring him along with Papyrus and Undyne. Papyrus gave a worried expression still holding out the vial.   
  
"Please let us help you Sans."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you trust them enough to accept the offer?


	35. Talk of Trust

Sans stood their for a moment trying to place which emotion was holding him back. It was shock that she had already been drained once just for a test, something that nearly killed him. Another was the ache of betrayal as Papyrus went behind his back, they must have know he wouldn't have agreed and for good reason. Yet they still did it anyway. But also, looking down at the woman he could tell something was off. She seemed so exited and happy but... desperate. She also looked in pain and he knew it was from Alphys just attacking her but... She clenched her chest hard. Something told him that she was still in pain from the test and if this was only a sample what would it be like later?  
  
Looking up at his brother Sans saw Papyrus impatiently waiting. "No... Something is going to happen, she is already in pain. Papyrus! Half my body blew up just with your magic, what do you think a human's soul is going to do to me? What would that do to her?" He would reach over and hold her against himself. His stance was protective but also pinning her. Her arms were trapped between there two chests and Sans held her head against him, without realizing it he was silencing her from inputting. "Me and Alphys were just talking about side effects, and you CAN'T  tell me Alphys isn't affected by that damned machine. I saw the different veins of magic in her own, and just because she can handle that doesn't mean my body can."  
  
Undyne faulted for a moment thinking about Alphys and how her magic had been affected. But Papyrus would keep focused and start walking closer to Sans. His arms still extended holding the bright vial out and forcing Sans to look at it. "Does any of this look like a side affect to you? Do you see any of her energy in this? Is she not standing right in front of you completely fine?" He would glance down at her bandages. "Well besides whatever the hell you two did in the past hour that I haven't seen her." Papyrus countered and Sans started to feel the woman pushing against him weakly but he would hold firm onto her.  
  
It was hard to reply as Papyrus would get closer with the vial. Forcing Sans to face the fact of his magic right there in front of him and was just as bright as it was once before. Imagining how it would feel again to be able to express his magic like that again... he could feel himself shaking. But faced with the easy option, something didn't feel right. Taking a step back Sans noticed the woman starting to fight a little more in his grip. "Your hurting her Sans." Papyrus spoke carefully like a whisper. He suddenly realized how his claw where digging into her scalp and the other starting to tear into the borrowed shirt she wore. But he couldn't bring himself to let go.  
  
Taking another step back he had the sudden urge to just take her and run. But as he was debating acting on the urge papyrus took a step back and lowered the vial a bit. "Well I can pretty much guarantee that if your not willing it isn't going to work. Please... we really are just trying to help. Maybe put some thought into it, we aren't going to force you." Papyrus spoke rigidly and Sans nodded. "Thanks... But i want to try what Alphys had in mind first." Sans offered and papyrus looked a little annoyed before glancing back at Undyne. The two had a intense moment of staring before papyrus turned back to Sans. "Just be careful ok? You don't have a lot of magic to work with. I don't want to find out you dust yourself trying something dumb."  
  
Sans twitched as something bubbled in him. "I don't want to dust myself trying out something dumb either." He spoke with spite as he remembered being forcibly connected to the magic booster. Papyrus sighed and looked a little hurt over the comment. "Well if you decide we can always try and we will be there to help you bro." Finally Sans felt a little bit more at ease after hearing his brother being so understanding. This thought would be lost as he became distracted by the woman. She was now trying to tap, claw, wiggle against his vice like grip. "Go relax Sans... and just let her go damnit, your hurting her." His brother would complain and Sans just backed up a little more.  
  
He wasn't sure why he just didn't want to let go. "I will." He called before bringing her out of the room. Was he afraid to leave her in there with them? He did find out that they used her as a test subject in a way. But in a way he felt like he was almost hiding behind her. Wanting to ignore that thought Sans released her once they were in the next door and the door shut. The woman would break form him quickly while giving him a weak punch into his rib cage. Holding herself in pain as Sans had drew some blood form his scalp and waist early. It was only a few drops but between nearly getting decapitated by Alphys today and whatever Papyrus did to her. She was just done with everything and held herself shaking.  
  
Everything in Sans hold him to comfort her but he had enough sense not to grab her again. "Lets get you somewhere to rest ok?" He would ask and got a pained and hurtful glare in reply. But she would nod and start walking though her legs were wobbly at best. He would stay near in case she started to fall but gave the woman space. On the walk Sans would rip open any drawer or cabinet in search of paper and pen for her. As he was sure they would need it soon. But once they reached the room Sans had yet to find any, "I'll be back in a second." He called and nervously left the woman in the spare bedroom.   
  
It almost felt like every spare notepad or pen had been removed from the damned lab. Finally he would find a pad of paper for the shopping list. Ripping the top of and leaving it he took the rest and a pen. Pacing himself back towards the room that she was in. The woman in that time had flopped down on the bed holding herself lightly. And Sans would take note over how the light was off and kept it that way. The woman didn't look up at him and he couldn't tell how much she wanted to be left alone if at all.  
  
Walking around the other side of the bed he could see that she was just dealing with pain and frustration but thankfully wasn't crying. "Do you mind me staying with you?" Sans asked carefully and she shook her head no. He would let out a sigh of relieve and place the paper and pen near her. Making sure she saw it and knew it was there but Sans didn't want to start asking her things just yet. Just giving her the option to write if she wanted it. Carefully Sans placed himself in a way that he could see if she wrote anything as he laid down. Thankfully the bed was big enough that they could sprawl around it without being forced together. Sans let it get quiet between the two of them.  
  
Whining a little when moving the woman started to scribble down on the notepad. Sans just had to adjust a little to completely see what she was writing. That way she didn't have to pause to hold up the message. "i just wanted to help you" Carefully she would place down the pen and bury her face in the sheets. Sans looked at the message for a moment debating on to reply. "I know." He paused for a moment thinking. He sure as hell knew, she never stopped trying to help him. "But not like this-" Quickly he found himself having a hard time explaining.  
  
Picking up the pen again the woman would question him. "why not? they showed me that it was safe" She would stare up at Sans for an asnwer.   
  
He sighed heavily and brought a hand up to his own broken eye. It had healed a little in the sense that it didn't hurt as much to touch but had not closed up at all. Forcing him to accept that it might never close, though Sans still had hope that his vision would return in the eye. "It's hard to say but, I get a horrible feeling from it. First time i almost died, second time papyrus had to rip it out of me so i wouldn't die. Sure it works for other monsters but..." Looking over again he saw her message. "second time?" Sans nodded at her. "Yeah when me and my brother disappeared from the house they used me to keep him alive." He explained and the woman just deflated thinking about that moment.  
  
"i thought you had died when you had just disappeared in all that dust" She wrote and Sans would sit up slowly. "I understand how you thought that, but Im not going to die like that. I refuse." He would try to put on a brave face for her. She would frown and move up a little to make it easier to write. "it scares me that you could though, everyone is worried and we all just want to help. i've seen so many people and monsters die because of this" She paused for a moment to hang her head and sigh. "i dont want to see you die either" Flipping to the next page the woman continued.  
  
"the booster might hurt you but if it keeps you alive then please do it. even if its with someone or me just please stay alive" She would also move to sit up slowly and Sans just waited to make sure that she was done writing. "i understand your fear of it and i wouldn't trust it either. but your brother showed me how weak your magic was before and i saw just how much taking a little energy from me helped." The woman placed her hand over her over softly and breathing in deeply.  
  
Sans watched her for a quick moment. It really did sound like this could be the thing that returns him to normal or at least puts him on the fast track for recovering. Though the chance of their magic mixing in a vial were much better than person to monster mix he guess as the effects were still unknown. Even still if everything worked out great for him what about her? Sans reached out and placed his hand over hers as it was still on her chest. Letting his fingertips glide pass hers and touch her skin. He could feel the faint thumping of her heart through her chest. "How much did it hurt?" Sans asked in a clam but serious tone.   
  
The woman looked away fro a moment and Sans already had the feeling she was going to lie. Reaching with her free hand she would write. "a bit not much" And kept her eyes focused away from him, under her skin Sans could feel her heart racing a little now. "Bullshit, I know first hand how painful it is." He explained and would get a glare back from her. "why did you ask then?" She wrote sloppily and Sans moved closer but let her free the second hand so now it was just his own hand resting on her chest. "Because I dont want to hurt you. What they did hurt bad didn't it? It was only for a moment right? Do you really think having that going for a couple minutes would be easy? It could wreck you." Sans was lightly pressing down on her chest with his full hand just feeling her heartbeat.  
  
She would stare at the paper for a moment before replying. "ive been in pain before it would be fine." Sans read her message and quickly answered with a sharp tone. "No. It wouldn't be." he watched her go to write again but would interrupt. "And I'm not actively dying right now, so don't be a martyr ok? We don't... have to do it right now, if we ever do. It's not worth the risk of you dying." He explained and the woman finally looked back up at him. She seemed a little confused for a moment before a tired understanding washed over her face.   
  
"i trust you all, while it would hurt i dont believe id die" She sighed in the middle of writing. "if so it would be an accident" Next it was Sans' turn to sigh and after reading that he moved his hand from her chest down down to her good hand and held it. "Still not worth it, not dying and I got a different way to try and get my magic back. It might be slow but less risky." He explained while rubbing the soft skin on her palm. She would close her hand and feel the sections the made up his boney fingers. After a soft moment she went back to writing. "but isnt it risky staying so weak for so long?" She waited for a reply but Sans did asnwer, not really sure how bad it was.   
  
"maybe to get you into a safe zone we should do what you did before with my soul-"  
  
"No." Sans interrupted as she was writing but the woman continued either way.  
  
"-and pull it. it didn't hurt and felt calming really, plus it really seemed to help you."  
  
The woman brought the hand she was still holding of his to her chest again. Gently she closed her eyes and waited, her other hand letting go of the pen before using both hands to hold his one hand. It was like she was offering herself for him to grab. He could feel a calmer heartbeat from her as his own beat much faster now. But he couldn't just do that right? His thoughts drifted back to a place without her, where everything was right expect that she was no longer their. "No... I can't." Sans struggled to say and she would open her eyes to look at with confused.  
  
Sighing Sans would take back his hand from her and she would return to the pen. "why?" While giving him a a dejected look. Sans on the other hand viably fought with a stir of emotions. Nothing had really given him any hint that he would mess up holding or even pulling out her soul. And he had always been skilled doing so in battle so why was he so afraid? Was it really only that dream causing him to hold back? Did he really think that he couldn't resist the temptation to absorb it?   
  
Was it the energy that he got from her that even caused such a strange dream? He did have the dream right after all that and has not had one like it since. The woman would notice his distress and write. "i trust you" Before setting the notepad aside and moving a bit closer. Sans noticed how she seemed physically nervous with the contact but didn't pull away as she sat with their legs toughing right in front of him. Gently she would take each of his hands in hers and lean forward to rest her head on his rib cage. He felt bad for not answering her and just stared down at the message she last wrote. It seemed to echo in his mind.  
  
 _I trust you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter while I work on the others. For those that wanted him to say yes don't worry, anything missed with be reworked into later parts of the story. So you won't be missing out on much.


	36. Through the Motions

The woman was leaning her head on his rib cage and Sans softly rubbed her hands in his own. Part of him was a bit at peace like this with her but it would be short lived. Her body twitched as the pain from today throbbed. She also whined slightly as her body rumbled and growled but would stiffen up trying to ignore it. But Sans didn't and soon spoke up. "Your hungry." He spoke matter of factly and she would disagreed by shaking her head.  
  
Moving back Sans would use that fact he was already holding her hands to guide her off the bed. She didn't fight it but her movements were slow and painful. "No your hungry, even if you don't feel like it you should eat. My brother did mention we need to watch over you and make sure you continue eating and drinking." Sans would coax her and she whined in protest childishly. "I'll make something, will you at least try it?" Speaking gently as he let go of the woman. She would nod and bring the notepad and pen with her before following Sans from the room.  
  
It was strangely quiet in the lab, like only the two of them were inside of it. Though Sans was still upset at everyone else inside so the last thing he wanted to do was go looking for them. And would prefer not to bump into them anyway. Moving across the lab they made it to the kitchen which was thankfully emtpy. "Go ahead and relax I'll make something." Sans commented as he strode pass her and deeper into the kitchen. She hesitated for a moment and stood there ready to write but decided against it. Moving over to the table she held the cut on the side of her face rubbing it lightly.  
  
Sans swiftly dug through the kitchen for something remotely healthy. Pulling out several fresh vegetables, oil, and spices he figured would taste good together. Warming a skillet with just a little bit of oil while cutting up each piece of the vegetables. "I'm going to make some sauteed vegetables ok?" He would turn to her as he finished dumping the food into the lightly sizzling pan. She would nod and give a small smile. Happily Sans turned back to the food and seasoned lightly with the basics like salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Though he was temped to add spicy things like chili but figured that it would upset her stomach too much. Still Sans left out of the spice to put on his own plate.  
  
Good thing about the dish is that is was tasty, healthy if you didn't overcook or drown in oil, and quick to make. Having it ready on a plate in less than twenty minutes. Which he would make two plates and pour two cups of water to bring to the table. "Let me know if you want something else. I know it isn't quite the soup diet you were on before." Sans offered as he sat down at the table and proceeded to dump chili powder on his own dish. Unashamed over his love for spicy food. The woman nodded and tried some of the food while nervously watching him shake the container with the chili powder over his food. Her face becoming over disturbed the longer he went without stopping.  
  
The woman started to write after a few bites on her own non-spicy vegetables. "its good and im happy to have something else other than soup" She would show him the note as Sans ate his own food like it was nothing. Though he quickly noticed her increasingly worried glances. "Heh. I know it's a bit strange." He replied to her glances and she shook her head no.  
  
"its not as weird as what i use to do" She smiled for a moment at the memory before continuing. "use to make the same thing but replace chili with a couple cups of sugar" With a smirk on her face she showed Sans the message and he paused. His brain not really understanding. "How in the world is that healthy? Whats is the point of eating vegetables if your going to add that much sugar??" He would question loudly which cause the woman to smile wider, pausing to let out an aired chuckle. Excitedly she turned the pad to write again. Sans noticed how she seemed to be reliving some sort of memory as she wrote. Whatever it was talking about sugar vegetables seemed to be from a happier time. Though happy thoughts were the last thing he would connect with such an awful dish. "its not healthy, it tasted good, haven't had it since i was a teenager" She would show her message proudly as Sans just looked perplexed.  
  
For a small moment he stared at her awkwardly as she excited waited for a reaction from him. "...I'm not letting you cook if you try to pull that." He spoke flatly and that seemed to be enough of a reaction for her to start letting out a few laughs, sadly they sounded more like small coughs but Sans knew the difference. Although seeing her a little happier he couldn't help but smile too. He did start eating again as she needed a moment to collect herself from that moment. "fair enough" The woman held up and Sans just shook his head.  
  
The two finished off the rest of their food in a happy silence.  
  
After finishing Sans moved to clean up and spoke. "I want to try and work with my magic in the way Alphys suggested. What did you want to do in the mean time?" He glanced over to see her shrug. "You willing to stay with me then? I-..." He paused to figure out his words. "-don't really like the idea of leaving you alone in the lab after what happened earlier." Sans hated the way that sounded and would hear her writing as he was drying the dishes.  
  
The woman held up her note. "Sorry that we all went behind your back." While giving him a defeated look. Sans sighed heavily at this and set down the last dish with a heavy clank. "I'm not blaming you. Hell all of you might be right, I just wish to be more in the loop for things that are 'for me' and 'to help me' you know?" He would explain and the woman nodded slowly. "Anyway the training room? Think you would be ok going back in there?"  
  
Sans asked simply because she was just attacked trying to get in the room earlier. And really he could practice anywhere in the lab but that room was built to handle any stray magic or damage. So it was just the easiest place for him to do any sort of training. The woman frowned and raised a hand to her neck to rub the light wound. "as long as i dont get attacked again" She would write and Sans moved over to look at the message since she didn't hold it up. Looking down at it Sans gave her a light smile.  
  
"I can make sure of that, besides if Alphys is unable to control herself again I'll just kick her out of the room before letting you in." He would offer as he gestured her off of the chair. She didn't disagreed and allowed herself to be guided up but leaned over the table to write. "ok" Which she would hold up to her face covering her frown. "Don't worry I have a good feeling about it." Sans said as he moved out of the room with her. Though thinking about it he didn't have as much of any feeling towards it but... it was a lot better compared to the feeling he was getting from leaving her with his brother or Undyne right now.  
  
As the two got closer to the training room they both could hear Alphys inside. Her attacks echoed through whatever target she was hitting so loudly that they could hear it partway down the hallway. Sans held a hand to her for a moment "Stay here." He would nod and move forward. As he went to enter the training Sans took note how her blood had already been cleaned off the door. Peaking inside he could see the lizard switching between punches and kicks wildly. Each strike had no real thought to them and she was most likely just venting.  
  
For a moment Sans began to rethink about this being a good idea. If she was venting then she was upset and more reactive. Alphys quickly noticed that she was being watched and called out to Sans before he could sneak the door closed again. "Hey Sans! I wanted to see you." She smiled and started to walk towards the door. A slight panic bubbled in him not sure if she should slam the door shut. He just imagined Alphys sensing the woman and darting for her.  
  
Alphys noticed him being hesitant and unwilling to come inside or even open the door fully. She would stand still for a moment in thought of why. "Is the human with you?" Alphys asked in a light tone that Sans wasn't able to read. "...yeah." He spoke slowly becoming more on guard.  
  
Suddenly Alphys would smile brightly and wave towards herself. "Bring her in! I have something for her!" And quickly would start pacing herself to the other end of the training room. Sans would open the door fully a bit confused. "Are you sure? If not I swear Alphys..." For a moment Alphys paused and turned around to reply. "I'm sure. I need to have her around more anyway so I can get use to her presence.  I know she isn't one of them, but rather a good human like Chara." Alphys nodded after speaking and returned to pacing to the other end of the room.  
  
Sans turned back to the woman in the hallway and waved her over. "It's good now. You can come in." The woman would follow but still look nervous. Choosing to stick very close to Sans as they two of the them entered the room. Once inside Alphys paced back over to them holding something. For a moment the woman froze up in fear. "I found something for you. And I'm sorry about earlier." Gently Alphys would hand the woman the object.  
  
In her hands the woman suddenly got emotional, her grip on the object shaky. Sans peeked over to see. It was a Basics to Sign Language picture book. It seemed to be a beat up school version from the underground. The woman smiled brightly and nearly started crying  as she lowered her head. One hand holding the book against her chest while the other signed repeatedly. "thank you thank you thank you"  
  
Alphys just beamed with a grin at the woman. Then turned to Sans. "Man that thing was hard to find with all the bullshit Undyne brought from the Underground. You think she was a hoarder but only for books. I barely even remember seeing it during the move." Sans nodded and let out a relieving sigh and placed a hand on his hip. "Thanks for taking the time to find it Alphys." He nodded to the lizard.  
  
"Hey it's no problem, and I know she needs it and will put it to good use." The woman nodded in reply to Alphys. "Oh yeah, what brings you in here? Come to train?" She would ask Sans and he looked up having almost forgotten. "Yeah wanted to work more on my magic with the way you showed me." Sans explained.  
  
"She staying?" Alphys perked up.  
  
"Yeah? That ok?" Sans felt a little nervous asking.  
  
Alphys would take his arm and drag him along happily. "I figured and that's fine! Like I said I want her around a bit more anyway- BUT!" She would stop at the soft floor mats which were normally used for wrestling. Alphys grabbed some and shoved them into Sans hands. Not prepared to suddenly be carrying something as big as him Sans fell over. Alphys didn't notice and grabbed the rest of them. Jogging over to a clear corner of the room she would toss them down.  
  
Turning back Alphys just missed Sans getting up and saw him following slowly. "In case of any stray magic lets make a protective little nook for her." Alphys swung her arm out to showcase the spot while she talked. Sans would drop the mats he was carrying near hers. For a moment he looked over the area and the mats in thought. "So... like a pillow fort?" But would instantly regret that question.  
  
Slamming her hands down on his shoulders Sans almost fell over again as Alphys yelled. "YES!!" Her tail would wag excitedly and she dragged him over, quickly forcing him to help her set up the mats in the 'protective patted mini house. Behind them the woman slowly walked over now holding the book against her chest with both hands. She would be letting out aired chuckled while watching the two. Walking up behind Alphys the woman would tap her arm trying to get the lizards attention.  
  
Sans looked up to see Alphys eyes narrow as she resist making any movement. Realizing that the woman had just come up behind Alphys he jumped up to get in between the two. But before he could Alphys side stepped putting a couple feet of distance from the human. Once everyone was out of Alphys personal bubble she would breath and relax. The woman realized quickly that she messed up somehow and signed. "sorry" she paused not knowing the next word. "thank you" Then pointed at the 'protective fort' thing. Having the moment to calm Alphys smiled at her like nothing happened. "Your welcome and don't worry. Also if you need anything just let either or use know. Hell we can get you some food and drink makin it a little camp or picnic."  
  
Taking a small step back the woman nodded. "its ok" She would sign and the two stared at each other in a moment of realization and understanding. It would take a moment longer for Sans to realize it too. The reasons were different but neither woman wanted to be touched and they could at least level on that understanding. "Alright, well me and Sans will get started." Alphys broke the the increasingly awkward stare with the human and gestured to Sans. Ignoring Alphys for a moment he made sure that the woman was comfortable in the padded hut. Getting a small chuckle over how much this looked like something little kids do. Thoroughly comfortable and reading the woman shooed off Sans and he would follow Alphys to another side of the room.  
  
The two monsters stood together as they prepped themselves mentally to start. Looking calm for only a moment Alphys started getting fidgety, then start pacing for a moment and lastly dishing out a few hard blows against the nearby training dummy. A bit confused Sans waited until she was done without saying anything. Alphys would take a moment to collect herself and breathe deeply. Once calm she came back over to Sans. "So..."  
  
She got a bit awkward not sure how to start the conversation and Sans gave her the time to think it over. "-I talked with your brother. Or rather we bumped into each other after you two disappeared into one of the spare rooms." Sans heavily sighed and Alphys waved her hands lightly. "Hear me out- While I think it's a good idea-" She would try to explain but Sans just turned around and folded his arms about ready to walk away. "-I get the feeling something is off, Undyne gets a certain way when she wants to test out something risky and I'm getting that vibe from both of them."  
  
Holding firm Sans didn't want to go over this right now. "Nooo... you think?" He would glance over his shoulder to glare at Alpyhs. "Did they even tell you what is going on or is this just your intuition?" Sans would bark back and Alphys sighed. "Papyrus did mention using your human for a boost session, and I think it would work consider how strong human souls are but-" She would lean forward and get closer to Sans. "Your history with this machine isn't good, and I know she is weak physically. On a side note though she seems like the type to have a strong soul."  
  
Sans relaxed for a moment on that thought. This woman doesn't seem strong willed for herself. Maybe the kindness trait of her soul was giving her the strength to fight for others. "Even still-" Alphys would continue as Sans was getting lost in thought. "I'm glad you didn't go through with it yet." Sans felt a hand rest on his shoulder as Alphys hovered from the back of him, reaching a hand out in front for him to see.  
  
Within Alphys hand was a spark of magic. It would glow bright vibrant yellow with speckles of orange, blue, and red where the most noticeable but other colors flashed as well like a prism. While a pretty sight it was quickly unsettling. "I doubt those two would ever willing talk about side effects but look at this. You can clearly see bits of Undyne's and your brother's magic and who knows who else. I wasn't awake everytime so I don't know. But what I want to say is that the magic wasn't absorbed, and sure my magic can 'build' off of it. They still sit there like a dead weight to my magic and I'm not sure if I'll ever have that feeling go away."  
  
Alphys would close her hand causing the magic in it to disappear. "It kept me alive when I was fading so I can't complain though. But for you and how reliant your fighting and defense are tied with magic. I can't agreed with you taking on that weight and hindering your control." She would pause for a moment and glance at the hut of floor mats in the corner, both of them knowing the woman could hear if she was listening.  
  
"So while I do agreed with them about it being the best way to help you quickly recovery... I don't agreed it would be best long term. You understand?" As Alphys asked Sans he sighed and placed a hand over his rib cage. For a moment he could feel the pulse of magic coming from his soul like a heart beat. He tried imagining how it would feel to have the 'dead weight' on this magic. Would it be like boulders or pebbles? But what also concerned him is that fact monster... were all magic. How do you just exist being infected with someone else? Was it a stain on your being? Or just a scar?  
  
In a life or death situation Sans did understand the usefulness of the machine and the after effects. Though he felt a little picky on who he would want to curse him like that... if he even had a choice in the matter. And with his brother first pushing his own magic and failing, then the woman's soul energy. Would he be happy with that?  
  
There was a sadness in her that he knew that he would never want.  
  
Sans would look back up to Alphys who still held onto his shoulder. "I understand, and from the beginning it never did sound like a good idea. Especially with her... I just get a feeling something bad will happen. And I don't think I'm being unreasonable considering how that damned thing has hurt me already." Alphys nodded as he explained but raised her own question. "Especially with her? Why?" And Sans took a moment to asnwer.  
  
"It's a feeling a get deep down... but also have you see the 'test' vial they made? It didn't have a trace of her left inside. Nothing was left of her and I think." He sighed. "She would died in the process. I know she is fine after the 'test' but looking at your magic Alphys I can see how each part lingers alive."  
  
The two paused as the woman started to come out of her protective fort and walk towards them holding her book against her chest. She seemed conflicted and somewhat upset. Sans quickly figured that she was listening which in itself wasn't a big deal. "Alphys why don't you show her your magic? She deserves to know what we are talking about." The lizard agreed with a nod and held out a hand for the woman to see. Within was the same type of spark as before complete with various streaks of color in it's yellow glow.  
  
"This is what we mean... and think back to that vial papyrus was waving around. It was just all purple remember?" Sans would explain before Alphys chimed in. "Might mean it works like it should be Sans." She would remind him but Sans would counter. "Or it could mean something really bad, normal soul absorption always kills the human. Just because their is a machine between both parties really mean it could stop that? And like I said... I have a bad feeling about it."  
  
The woman would stare down at Alphys magic and grow increasingly more depressed looking. "I know you meant well earlier but I just dont want to take the risk. I worry about it killing you." Sans explained and the woman leaned the book she was holding against her and use it as a base to write in the notepad she still had. "i understand i just worry about you not recovering from what they did to you" The woman sighed for a moment then continued. "the suppressant effects are long lasting" She finished writing and looked up to Sans.  
  
He would give her a smile. "I'll work hard to make sure it doesn't hold me down, you don't need to worry or jumping through crazy loops to try and fix me. Can you trust me?" The woman nodded to Sans question even though her face showed some sort of guilt or concern. "Thank you." Sans replied and the two would look up at Alphys when a low hum started from her.  
  
The lizard would be staring down at the two almost like Undyne would but softer. "I just can't handle you two." She spoke in a strained tone. "You two should dat- work well together." Alphys would stop herself and Sans realized that he was being shipped again with the woman. While annoying at least Alphys had enough sense to don't vulgarly say it like his brother. Sans rolled this eyes. "Anyway lets get started already."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on the Sugar Veggies. This was a dish I use to make with my friends in high school. And yes every adult hated the idea but one disliked the taste of it. Sorry for adding such a strange quirk so a character that should be more relatable. It's just a very fond memory of mine.  
> And for those curious-  
> 1 Part: Mixed Veggies (Corn, Carrots, Broccoli)  
> 1 Part Sugar  
> 1 Part Butter  
> Get a microwave safe container, and I mean a good one. I've melted through quite a few. Make sure that their is enough butter so that when it melts the veggies boil and no part is left dry. Microwave for 10mins or until soft/cooked thoroughly. (a huge batch took 25mins one time) Use leftover melted sugar butter as a sauce for some meat with the meal. Nearly any meats works but I normal used chicken or steak.  
> This dish tended to be a hit with any high school boys that came over. (my house was like a gathering spot since free food)


	37. Self Defense

The woman would move back to her padded nook as the two monster got themselves ready. Though they started off slow so it was safe for her to stay. But it made it easier for the them to focus without her right next to them. Quickly keeping to herself as she practiced the basic alphabet from the book. Needing to take breaks from the increasingly growing soreness in her scarred hand. And while rubbing it help with the pain, focusing on it too long brought back unpleasant memories.   
  
Sans would focus with Alphys on gathering magic. Not really keeping his mind on anything and just focus as if he was trying to summon an attack or weapon. The pull he felt from his bones was painful as what magic he did have was being used to keep him alive. His body just didn't want to spare anything at first. But when he was finally able to the smallest spark appeared forth in his hands. Looking down Sans felt like he was holding a breakable child, as if the slightest movement would kill it. It wouldn't be long before Sans lost it from the strain.   
  
Glancing up Alphys would be calmly standing with her giant and bright spark. it easily formed an axe before disappearing and the lizard would repeat the process. Once again Sans felt annoyed as jealousy festered for the moment. Taking his eyes from her Sans would push down that feeling and focus within his own mind.  
  
Try as he might Sans wasn't able to picture the flower field in a meaningful way, just as a memory. Also meaning whatever he used to 'gather' his magic was him basically just fantasizing it. Slowly he would sit himself down on the floor and hold his hands open in his lap like he was holding a soul, though nothing would be there. In his mind he could picture his magic and how it felt before. A sweet memory now...  
  
Sighing loudly focused off of his own magic and more so on the problem itself, the suppressant. Whatever the hell it was made from seem to absorb into him easily and stick around. And everyone just seemed to try and put magic over it again and again. But it was still there right? If he could just get rid of it then this would be so much easier. It was like a dust right? Sans focused on sweeping it away, maybe to clear the mind, his magic? Just to have the feeling of clarity in him.   
  
It reminded him of a clean home, someplace of comfort. But in a home everything can be moved, cleaned, changed. Whatever was wrong stuck around and didn't leave. But what never leaves? Soon Sans was giving himself a headache with all this and it felt very unproductive and off topic to him.   
  
Trying to pull his magic again it would hurt slightly. But not like a soreness rather a pricking pain, like the type one would get from falling into thorns or mini spikes. Pressing through the slight pain Sans did manage to summon a spark of magic in his hands. Focusing hard on just maintaining it and keeping the strength steady. Slowly he was able to make the spark slightly larger. Moving his hands closer Sans would try aiding the shape of the magic into a weapon. Something both him and Alphys were extremely good at in the past. And with the size of what he had to work with a simple knife was the goal.  
  
Stretching the form Sans was able to make a cylinder like shape. Though the magic would tapper off at reach end unable to keep it's form and with growing spiked pain the spark of magic busted apart and disappeared in his hands. Leaving Sans out of breath and sweating while he held his rib cage. Alphys would quickly notice his state and drop her own magic.  
  
"Don't push it, shit hurts if you do. And doesn't help you get control with what you can do." She replied and hummed in thought. "Hey, watch for a second." Holding out arm arm Sans could see magic gather almost instantly in her hand before quickly forming a large axe. Snapping that back Alphys brought out her other free hand. It too would summon magic and form into a weapon. But this time Sans could see how dim the light was in the yellow glow and making it easier to see the other colors buried inside.   
  
Next she would bring both axes forward in each hand. Each one starting to dull quickly and causing them to start to fade from the edges. Alphys would start to sweat from straining while her scales almost seemed to lift up like a cat would when puffing themselves up. Starting to growl lowly as she lost the control and each axe faded. Twitching a bit Alphys took one stomp over to the training dummy nearby and rushed it hard with a signal punch, sending it flying the other way across the room.   
  
Sans watched concerned and would lean out of her way during this, waiting fro her to clam down. Taking a few deep breaths the lizard sat on the ground near Sans. "Do you see how trying to push more than what you can hold at one time causing everything to just fall apart? I mean it's good to push yourself of course but-" She would pause to catch her breath and Sans picked it up. "You get no where stressing it right? I think I get it Alphys... it's just hard because I have such little to work with." Sans explained.  
  
Alphys leaned back from sitting to lay on her side, using an arm to push herself up a little. Her free hand hovered over Sans hands. "Maybe try doing a flash summon, think of it like... you need just one quick hit. Something that you can use before the other could react. Try a knife." She would offer and summon one herself, though it was far to small for her hands to use, it disappeared quickly. Sans sighed heavily and gave her an annoyed glance. "I just tried making a knife..."  
  
Grunting Alphys would slap his palms. "Don't think I wasn't watching you punk, I know that.  But do it FAST. Right now!" She demanded and gave him room between his hands to summon the spark. It took a moment to gather and Sans struggled to keep it steady so that he could form something. Alphys quickly slapped down over the spark crushing it against Sans' hands and shattering it. "Faster." She demanded as Sans gasped loudly from the sudden shocking pain of his weak magic suddenly shattered.  
  
"Don't be slow, you can recover faster than that." She demanded in an almost cheerful tone, trying to coach Sans rather than coming off as mean.  "Fuck off." Sans snapped as he rushed to pull from his magic reserves. As it appear in his hands already in a cylinder shape. Snapping a hand down Alphys grabbed the magic and pushed her own through it for a moment. The misshaped spark glowed yellow and purple. Quickly being taken over my Alphys magic and using Sans' as a base.  
  
Suddenly Sans felt like it couldn't breathe as her magic engulfed his and quickly lashed out at her. Punching her straight in the face and reaching out to grab the mix magicked knife. Smirking Alphys took the punch and moved quickly doing a fancy handstand to create distance between the two. "Quick, Attack!" She commanded and pulled her magic that was engulfing Sans' knife. Suddenly Sans felt the weight lifted from him but his magic also began to dissolve even faster.  
  
Unable to close the distance Sans threw the small magic form knife at her like a dart. It whizzed through the air and disappeared before even reaching it's target. "Good... **Now Dodge**." She commanded and Sans complete stop focusing on magic for the moment as he pushed his body to the side. Alphys summon five half sized war axes and started throwing them before they were even fully formed. Each time Sans dodged one he noticed how it would instantly disappear. Allowing Alphys to spend the least amount of power on them as possible while maintaining such a high number of them.  
  
But as quickly as Alphys attacked started it ended with her loudly huffing. "Attack!" She paused to breathe. "Now!" And hold up a hand like she was about to summon something else. Sans reared back an arm and started a throw before any magic had even formed in his hand. But it appeared just in time for the toss as the spark became a dart on the way to it's target. Sans felt it disappearing already and threw a second. The first instantly vanished as the second was summoned but it would reach it's target.   
  
Alphys held her hand out and caught the small dart allowing it to cause damage but what it inflicted was laughable. Without warning this time Alphys reared one giant spear in her two hands launching it quickly at Sans. Surprised by the large display suddenly he would step back to attempt to dodge. But something lay behind him and caused him to lose his footing. For a moment the attack almost landed and would have taken off a good chuck of his face and left him falling backward shell-shocked.  
  
Sans could hear Alphys laughing as he laid still on the ground in a crumpled pile with the abused training dummy that he tripped over. Taking a moment to realize what even happened before giving Alphys a middle finger, this only caused her to laugh harder. "Oh man you should have seen your face! I can't!" She continued for a moment while Sans picked himself off the ground, taking a moment to kick the training dummy for good measure as well.  
  
Once Alphys calmed herself she explained. "Anyway that was good. You were able to push yourself and hold your magic steady long enough to matter. Trust me you aren't going to tossing out bone attacks like candy but it's a starting point. Now take a break then work on seeing how much you can build back up again. It should be less now that your tired but i want you to focus on getting to what you had before we started slinging blows." She explained and sat down on the floor herself for a break.  
  
Moving away from the training dummy Sans just laid spread out on his back on the floor. Taking long deep breaths as his whole body felt like pins and needles from the magic strain. Not even close to ready for another attempt. Closing his eyes Sans complained loudly. "How the hell were you able to-" He paused to breath. "-use my magic at first? That was the longest I had it out yet I felt like I had no control??" Alphys took a moment to think over the complaint.  
  
She spoke in a lower calmer tone. "Well I'm not sure what caused it but I got a descend idea of what is happening." She sighed and for a moment looked at her hand. "Between what I allowed Undyne to do to me and all the different magic boosted into me... it seems I've become pretty good and using others magic as a 'base' for my own." Alphys took her own shirts collar and lifted it to wipe the sweat off her face. "A while back I was sparring with your brother and was able to turn one of his attacks against him using that. Well neither of us realized what was happening and he tried recalling his magic before I had let go. Fast tract for my magic to end up inside of him and blowing his ability to use magic for a couple hours."  
  
Sans sat up quickly hearing all this. "Why the hell did you use it against me then??" He could only imagine how painful that would be and how much it would set him back if it happened. Alphys gave a small smile to Sans. "If I'm stronger than the other I can basically take hostage of the portion. But only for a few seconds, not like I could turn a direct attack from the Queen back at her or something. It's just a weird quirk and if I would try to absorb the magic like how the booster lets me do. What happened to you will happen to me... just more messy. That machine does act as a guard so monsters aren't just sending bullet attacks straight into each others bodies."  
  
Sans held a glare at Alphys. "You know... if they are compatible. Never thought you and your brother wouldn't be Sans." She reasoned and Sans just laid back down in a huff. "Yeah yeah..." Once again complaining lightly thought the two would quickly fall silent together. Giving each other the time to work up the strength for more. Though Sans would lift a hand to the air faintly trying a bit to early. Causing a prickling sharp pain to flash through his bones, of course he would try again with the same result.  
  
Watching him Alphys just sighed and got up. Pacing herself towards him and folding her arms as she looked down at him. He just glanced up from the floor with a tried expression. "What?" He would ask and Alphys just continued to stare judging him. Uncomfortable with the hovering Sans would try to move but his body seemed to refuse to move and just shaking. "Ok yeah... you need a real break not just a moment to catch your breath." Then would pick up Sans body form under one arm to carry him. While he felt able to struggle Sans didn't bother and just gave a growling whine in complaint.  
  
She would place him down at the entrance of the woman's little pillow/mat fort. "Hey make sure he takes a nap." Alphys with give the woman a thumbs up and in reply the woman slowly spelling out 'sure' with her hands. Needing to reference the book for each letter but clear enough so Alphys could easily tell what she signed. Sans now done being treated like a child would shove Alphys away childishly and make himself comfortable in the matted space. "And what are you going to do Alphys?" Sans asked while watching Alphys take a moment to think about it.  
  
The lizards tail sweep gently behind her as she thought. "Maybe some food? But then again I always want food." She shrugged and placed her hands on her hips. "Either way, we can continue a bit later ok?" Sans nodded to Alphys question and watched her exit the room briskly. For a moment Sans just sat there with his eyes closed and rested. Though a scratching noise made him look up. The woman was using her nails to itch the plastic of the mats making the loud sound solely to get his attention.  
  
Though once she had it the woman started to sign very slowly. 'are you ok?' She would ask with her scarred hand while keeping the other on the book, ready to turn to a page as needed for reference. Sans was happy to see her able to sign somewhat clearly, though he would have to focus as she had to spell out each word by letter. Since she did not know the signs for full words or phrases yet. "I'm ok, just tired is all." He would asnwer her quickly and she returned a soft smile.  
  
Flipping through her book for a moment before starting to sign again. 'why did you two start fighting in the middle of it?' This time she was able to find some signs for whole words making it a bit easier for Sans to understand. He kinda chuckled at the question though. "Somehow, defending yourself you can bring out a strength you normally can't. So to get me more use to using it Alphys start sparring." He would shurg and sighed. "Or she just wanted to mess with me?" He joked as he knew the two did play a sort of dangerous game of attacking each other in the underground.  
  
On that thought though Sans came up with an idea. "You know... we should teach you some self defense!" He excited turned to look at her knowing how much she needed some physical strength. He wasn't expecting a look of horror and guilt. She shook her head wildly and looked to the side. Ignoring him. "What? We can start with just me and you, I think it will help a lot." His mind raced with the good she could gain from of the idea.   
  
But once again she signed no but with much more force. Then closed her book in her lap and brought her legs up to hug them. Cutting herself off from the conversation. Sans didn't know how the topic was causing her to react so badly but he would drop it. For a moment he tried not to stare at her but he could just feel how she was starting to get more upset. Her eyes stared at the mat on the floor as some memory plagued her.  
  
A barely audible thumping past Sans ears. It came from her and at first he couldn't understand what it was. But it felt panicked and desperate to him. Something that seemed to call for help almost and Sans felt the need to move closer to her. Sitting next to the woman she curled into herself a bit more and Sans sighed. "I'm sorry, I won't bring it up again. Here, come here." He would offer a arm to her and she just leaned towards him rather than away from him.  
  
Resting his arm across her back with his hand on her shoulder giving her a half hug. Gently he rubbed her arm and hummed lightly. "It's ok." He told her even though he didn't know exactly what was wrong. After a moment the woman would finally look up with a guilt and shameful look on her face. 'sorry im like this' She would sign and Sans just hushed her.   
  
"Nah, don't be sorry. Why don't we both just relax for a bit?" He would offer and the woman nodded. Closing her eyes and leaning more into him, but wasn't able to relax as her body stayed tense. Hoping him being there for her would slowly calm her down Sans closed his eyes too. He was already tired so it wasn't hard for him to fall asleep with her.  
  
Her soul continued to thump hard as it wanted to scream out.  
  
 _Sans opened his eyes to a place he did not know, but felt as if he did. He realized that he was in a body that wasn't his. And also quickly realized their were thoughts that did not belong to him. Unable to act he began an observer to this event._  
  
 _You stood in front of a door. You knew this door well and the man behind it. They in fact where a part of your family and knowing this fact... You felt like a traitor, between the lies, leaks, and backstabbing you knew this was going to be messy. But you felt as if you were fighting the wrongs of something you loved so much. In an effect to to fix it you went to many extremes and you were about to pay for that._  
  
 _Were you about to be kicked out of the organization that you made your life's career? Absolutely, but a rage inside of you fueled by bitterness and spite masked any remorse you felt. Just because you put ever once of your energy for years into something you believed in did not mean you were going to watch it go so corrupt, ruin every moral they built up without a fight. But that did not mean your attacks were right, so now you stand here. Facing the door._  
  
 _Reaching out for the door handle you couldn't see yourself. The hand you had was human but colored in a fading green, it disgusted you to know how far you had fallen. Walking inside was an office of simple yet luxurious design, recently redecorated by the corrupt money. Behind the desk sat a man you once respected so much that you would have done anything for. When that was put to the test though you found out that there was a limit and what he asked of you crossed it. To bad you did it and now held that guilt, never again though._  
  
 _His form was a faded dark blue and you couldn't see anything other than that color and the form of a human. Though his color was nearly black from corruption. The moment you entered the room he would take something from this desk and place it behind him and hiding it under his shirt held by his belt. You knew what that item was but did not fear it._  
  
 _Quickly the room erupted from yelling mutter, you couldn't understand any of it. Your memory blocked out the pain. But you were yelling and he was too, slowly you got closer and slammed your hands down on the desk. Crying out over what had become of your family, what they were doing. You knew it was too far gone, nothing could save it. But you had exposed it to the public, everyone was to serve justice for what happened._  
  
 _Or at least you thought. The man yelled back before mocking you. Sure you did a massive blow to the family name. Cost them to lose public rep and forced the cash flow to almost a stop. But now he waved a contract in your face, one worst than you had ever imagined to see. Your actions forced them to find other means of money, and that involved so much death._  
  
 _If this death were human then you knew people to help stop this. But the demand to easily kill monsters was too great. And because they weren't 'human' no one seemed to care, even though they were humanity's equal._  
  
 _You screamed in anger. For your lost family, for your lost life's work. For everything you grew up knowing and for the morals you gain while growing up with this family. You didn't even realize what the man said. You barely notice the gun at your head._  
  
 _Ducking down you avoided the first shot and hid in front of the desk while your heart pounded. Knowing that because of what you did, what you knew. They needed to get rid of you before you could do any more damage. If for some reason you made it out alive, you vowed to ruin them in anyway you could. But right now? You had no where to hid as you where kneeling in front of the desk in an open room._  
  
 _Snapping your head up the man was now dark as a shadow, any color within him was now corrupted. He quickly rounded the desk for another shot and would not miss at point blank range this time. But you were determined to not become the first blood spilled for this deal. In a rage that now turned you as black as him you slammed yourself into him. Grabbing his wrist and bending it. The taking your second hand and forcing the gun slightly away from you._  
  
 _The man's free hand grabbed your face and slammed you against the desk backwards. Now laying back on it but you did not let the gun turn towards you. Using the desk you pushed up and started to force yourself up. The man would press down to hold you back, both bodies shaking trying to use as much force as possible. Presented with death nearly inches away from you were able to find a strength deep inside. Fueled by a hatred you didn't know you had. Pushing hard against the man you were able to make the gun slam into his face. The cold hard metal made him flinch in pain._  
  
 _You can't remember, you do remember, you won't remember. You refuse to remember._  
  
 _You knew what happened, his finger flinched and pulled the trigger. You knew he was dead, you could feel the mess that splattered against you. But you refused to see it, you saw it. But will never again picture it, you can't. His body fell off on you and stood in shock leaning again the bloodied desk. Your whole body shaking and your mind blanked. It wasn't blank, you knew. You just refused._  
  
 _Someone rushed into the room because of the noise. This man you knew as well, his form was bright blue. Well it was for a moment, it also turned black the moment he saw the corpse. For a moment you two stared at each other. Then he came over to you._  
  
 _And beat you nearly to death. You did not fight it._


	38. Overthinking

Sans jolted awake as his body pulsed with pain. It would disappeared as quickly as it came and Sans found himself in the mat hut still. Next to him was the woman in the throws of what looked like a nightmare. Her face was pained and her body shaking. Looking at her Sans tried to figure out if what he just dreamed, was her dream? Was it continuing still? How was any of his possible?  
  
Even in her sleep the woman's hand clenched her chest hard as the soul within her thumped so hard that he could hear it. Sans didn't know what would happen if he continued to let her having that nightmare as she started to have trouble breathing and gasping for air. Roughly he grabbed both her shoulders and started shaking her awake. "HEY!" He screamed not knowing what to say. Suddenly her eyes snapped open with wide dilated pupils causing Sans to see straight into the darkness of her eyes. He did not even see the punch coming as the woman was in a panic and didn't knowing what was going on and attacked the one holding her down. Forcing herself away from him and falling down to the padded flooring. In a panicked and crumbled mess it took a moment to realize where and what was going on.  
  
Guilt plagued her as the woman shot back up holding her hands out, trying to see if she could repair what she just did. But froze solid seeing Sans. He had a hand up over his throbbing broken eye. She didn't do any damage to it but pain clouded his mind for a moment. The woman not knowing how badly she had hurt him began letting out a choked scream and ran out of the padded fort. Dashing for the door to the training room her panicked mind couldn't figure out how to get it open and started banging her fists on it. The pain from her hands woke her up a little from her frenzied state and she slid down the door, leaning herself against it in shame. Sans watched her run off in the throws of a panic attack. Once his mind cleared from the pain he could regain his thoughts and go to her.  
  
Her rushed over to her and wondered if she knew what he saw. Something told him that she didn't.  
  
The woman looked up at him in guilt and started to back away. Not wanting her to start running Sans sat down with her but kept her at arms length. "I'm fine ok? It was an accident it's fine." He would try to calm her down even if he couldn't bring himself to let go of his throbbing eye.  
  
_NO IT ISN'T!_  
  
Sans heard her scream through her soul. He realized once more than this was only because of how desperately upset she was. The tragicness of this being the only way to hear her wasn't lost to him. In fact it made him feel worst about it all. He just didn't know what to do right now and just listened to footsteps coming down the hallway on the other side of the door. Sans just slumped depressed as he thought back to the room hearing that noise. Somewhere he noticed the woman nervously staring at the door but Sans couldn't focus on her. The door would open and Alphys holding food almost tripped over the two. Staring down confused before realizing Sans looked hurt and glared down at the woman. But her fear and guilt expression told Alphys that while yes she caused it but didn't mean too.  
  
Sighing heavily and setting down the food Alphys knelt down to Sans. "What the actually fuck happened while I was gone?" Alphys asked as she moved Sans hand from his eye and grabbed his face. Checking it over making sure nothing else had happened to it. But the woman didn't do any real damage to it, just make the weak thin bone hurt. What was getting him more was the dream... he had? Invaded? Shared?  
  
Somewhere he remembered wondering why this woman never seemed to defend herself. Was that why? Because she killed someone defending herself? Or was that just the first instance? Also if it was her memory why was everyone a soul color? Humans couldn't see things like that, was his own mind filling that in? How did he know what those soul color were? Sure he knew the woman was green but the other two?  
  
And that light blue soul, something about that human sent chills down his spine. It was familiar in all the wrong ways but why? Everything raced in his mind like static and barely noticed Alphys letting him go and trying to comfort the woman. They had gathered the book once more and the woman was explaining how Sans startled her awake and she mistakenly hit him.  
  
Alphys kinda wanted to laugh at the silliness of it all. From what Alphys could tell the punch knocked Sans senseless for a moment. But with everyone so upset Alphys held the urge laugh in. "Well lets all take a break ok? I brought some food since you two never came out of the room." Alphys offered and turned to the woman. "Did he at least sleep a little?" The woman nodded in reply and Alphys seemed relieved.  
  
Since there wasn't a table in the room Alphys just sat down near the two, who were still somewhat in the doorway. As Alphys went to pass out the food Sans was able to asnwer. "We already ate..." He looked down at the Asian looking noodles and veggies dish Alphys was offering. The lizard froze for a moment and awkwardly laughed. "Well um... more for me?" She pulled back the plate and just started eating it. "Anyway sounds like you need some more time before practicing again Sans?"  
  
Alphys asked him and Sans thought about it for a moment. But before he could try and test his magic the woman stood up and distracted him. She would sign 'sorry' followed up by 'i'm going to take a shower' not leaving Sans time to respond to her as she left. Sans would move to follow her but Alphys reached her leg over without getting up and stepped on Sans foot. "Hey... don't be weird and follow a girl into a shower. I doubt you two are at that stage yet." She would sound serious for a moment but it turned into a playful tone.  
  
Sans glared at her insulted that she would be suggesting something like that. Alphys just sighed and moved her foot slowly off his, but her look kept him from ignoring her and just leaving. Alphys seemed in thought for a moment before glancing at the open door.  
  
"Besides... it seems like she wants some time to herself."  
  
Sans sighed and just relaxed. He agreed with Alphys but felt a slight worry about her. She was just going to go somewhere and get even more upset about simply just punching him in the face? What worried him more is her focusing on that 'dream' that he saw. Thinking on it he had the feeling... that was the first of many deaths she saw right? It made him wonder how many she blamed herself for. Though he had many deaths on his soul as well, being in the royal guard and whatnot. Sans also knew how hard the first one was for everyone. If this was the Underground he felt like he should be annoyed by her reactions. Hell Sans could recall dismissing monsters for showing emotion for kills. Those were awful times to remember.  
  
Alphys noticed how Sans seemed lost in thought and would hand him the other plate just to see what would happen. He took it without any thought and started picking at it which caused her to chuckle a little.  
  
Sans thought back to the times he had hear her before, in the real way. The time right after her almost getting killed in the hospital comes to mind. That was when it was the most clear right? Hell he replied to her and it made him wonder if she truly hear him back... or did he just say it out loud? The memory is a bit fuzzy on that day. The dream is what he remembers most.  
  
That dream although. It was nothing but color like the one he just had with her. Was that because his mind putting those colors or was it hers? What were the colors? White, like the gas- the smoke the suppressant. Purple like his own magic, that one made the most sense to him. Their was green like her soul and it was surprisingly far from him at first, he had to track it down. And when he found it it turned black with his touch, that thought sent a chill down his spine. And what else was their?  
  
Light Blue Sky.  
_Strikingly bright blue sky that threaten to crush everything below it._  
  
Who had a light blue soul? No one that he knew, sure Undyne's magic was the same color but she wasn't human and couldn't have that kind of trait. And even though Undyne managed to freak out the woman would that cause just a powerful imagery for her? For him? Doubtful but something else was that color right? In that dream he just had with her featured two other humans right? A dark blue of integrity and it was corrupted to black. The other-  
  
Patience, light blue. Which was also corrupted black in a fit of rage right?  
  
If that dream was based more of her memory than his, was that overbearing weight the sky gave off from that human? Even just thinking about it gave his soul a crushing feeling. Who the hell was that human? Both of them felt familiar to him, or was that her feelings? All this was giving him a headache.  
  
Alphys amused by the fact Sans had nearly finished the plate without realizing it was now handing him a cup of water. Whatever he was working out in his head was making him do little comparisons in his free hand like he was counting something.  
  
Had he also hear her before all this? What about when he was still captured by Guardship? That damned gas fogged a lot of his memory and he wasn't sure if that was what could have been him hearing her and wasn't just his own mind going crazy. At least he was sure about hearing the crying, but in the throws of torture like they were going through that didn't surprise him. One thing suddenly came to mind making him feel ill.  
  
_I don't want to watch yet another person die._  
  
He heard that... before he even woke up right? Had she always called out? Could other monsters hear it? If not why could he? It made at least a little sense after he held her soul, well 'making sense' was a huge stretch. But all that way back then? Absolutely not. Plus when he thought back to that time his mind was plagued with shadows and fog. Even she was one of the worst of them all, and void of herself.  
  
If it was his mind placing the colors in those visions then back then... was he seeing the color of everyone's soul? Not a single human had color to them and had everyone really corrupted their soul trait? How was he even able too see it if that was the case? No monster had that ability before and he sure never did before. The only thing that change was location and him being asphyxiated by the suppressant. And there was no way something that was meant to weaken and destroy him would give him such a strange ability right?  
  
Alphys would pull out her phone and snap a photo of Sans, just amazed how long he was going on this little spaced out thought train. Though the moment the click went off Sans would snap out of it like some sort of jerk reaction. For a moment he looked scared and his working eye seemed to see something that wasn't there.

In that moment Sans recalled that bastard testing him, the phone he used to take photos. Looking up Sans realized Alphys had just taken a picture of him and he glared at her. Then also realized the empty plate in his lap and the half full glass of water in his hands. He was... a bit confused, when did he? Alphys snorted with a laugh as she watched him.  
  
"Man I don't even know if I've seen Undyne in just intense thought. The hell is on your mind Sans?" She would ask as Sans got increasingly uncomfortable. Clear he either didn't know how to explain or didn't want to talk about it. "Ah forget it, think you want to try magic again?" Alphys would change the subject and Sans nodded.  
  
Lifting out his hand Sans would gather his magic intending to just start with a spark. Something to gauge how much his magic recovered in such a short time and just how much he had to work with. He was not expecting what he saw. For a moment, like a flash that his eye barely saw. The magic was green then warped a strong bright purple. Both him and Alphys stare for a moment completely stunned as they tried to figure out the implications of what just happened.  
  
Alphys glanced over at a camera that Sans didn't realize was in the room. Her scales would start to stand on end before she darted from the room, nearly flying down the hallway. Sans didn't quite realize what even just happened, how did he have some of her soul color? He didn't reach for it or did any sort of transfer right? Was the fact he 'shared' a dream with her caused a bit to transfer? How the hell did that work?  
  
What did that even mean? Why did Alphys just run off?  
  
Something felt like a heavy weight on his soul as it realized something that he couldn't. Without much thought Sans got up and followed Alphys. But through the halls he could already hear fighting. Why? Who? Turning the corner Sans watched as Papyrus was thrown from the bathroom. Alphys didn't exit the bathroom and Papyrus just teleported back into the room.  
  
Sans would get closer to heard his brother being slammed into the title of the bathroom. The woman's voice letting out a fast scream at what was happening around her. "Alphys you just saw how it works! Do you even realize how many monsters we can save if we just-!" He would be interrupted by Alphys tossing him out again. She would scream at the top of her lungs.  
  
"HOW IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT FROM THE DETERMINATION EXPERIMENTS?!"  
  
She huffed and continued, keeping herself close to the woman in case papyrus tried a teleport grab again. "You know for a fact it's banned by the Queen, and yeah I fucking agreed with you but it isn't right. Relations with humans are fucked enough, do you realize what would happen if this shit got out?" Alphys explained as Papyrus tried to get up from the floor.  
  
He was beginning to run low on magic already and struggled to stand. "How can you say your fine with it then after seeing it first hand and suddenly be against it? It's instant, she is still alive and unharmed. What the hell is your problem with it Alphys?" Papyrus would demand back right before seeing Sans approaching.  
  
Alphys huffed and allowed the woman just enough room to get out of the tub and find her clothes but still kept extremely close to her. "What I saw was straight up partial soul absorption, I've had determined used on me before papyrus you know this. And I fucking know what it looks like, you can't force this. You can't share it between others, it's given." She would breath deep to yell. "Do you not remember how many monsters died given forced determination? Or do you just forget Undyne's basement existed like the rest of the world?!"  
  
Sans would go to his brother not sure if he was planning on helping or hurting him. But Papyrus shoved Sans before he could make up his mind. Stomping forward Papyrus tried summoning a blaster. It was small and faded for the moment it appeared but would disappear before it could fire. "This isn't those experiments Alphys, we all know they aren't allowed. It's a boost-" Alphys would move forward to punch Papyrus in the chest causing him to stumble.  
  
"Yeah you call it a different name but both of us know, it's just recycled tech from Undyne's lab. It's fine between monsters but now that I've seen it naturally happen with a monster and human? You have to be crazy to think trying to farm that would be safe for a living soul!" She would argue back.  
  
Papyrus steadied himself by holding onto the counter. "It doesn't fucking matter if it's safe with how many monsters we can save with it!" He would slip and yell out just as Sans was getting behind him. Sans would tackle his brother in a thoughtless rage while Alphys grabbed the woman sprinting out of the small room. For a moment the two brothers wrestled on the floor.  
  
Sans empowered slightly would be able to knock his brother down and start running to follow Alphys. Papryus pulled out his cellphone and yelled to Sans. "WAIT! Leave and I'll tell Alphys that she use to be a part of Guardship!" Sans hearing this stopped and looked back at his brother blackmailing him. "You know the moment Alphys knows that she will tear that woman to shreds, so stop and come back over here." Freezing still at his brothers threat Sans could just see the two in some dark corner of the lab right now as Alphys just murders the woman.  
  
Papyrus struggled to his feet and Sans didn't help him at all. "Come with me and I'll explain with Undyne. We really do have a good reason for this Sans." His brother pleaded with him while walking closer, still with a phone in hand. Sans glared back but didn't move. Not really caring about what excuse papyrus had and was just more pissed off that he would even threaten him using Alphys and the woman.  
  
"Fine, glad to know your actually willing to talk to me rather than doing all this shit behind my back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alphys held the woman tightly against her own chest, hiding in a dark corner of the lab. One that she knew no cameras were set up. She could feel the human shaking and holding onto her, she did just see that crazed look on papyrus and now had a deep fear for him. Alphys thought back to seeing her green soul magic within Sans magic. It was bright and healthy, it didn't drip with rejection and blacken from corruption. It was nothing like what Undyne injected into her years ago. No... it absorbed so well it was almost like a soul bond in her eyes, a precious gift. Even if the woman knew or not she was pouring out her soul to who ever would show her kindness. Like a damned bleeding heart. 
> 
> Even now Alphys could feel something radiating off of her. And there was a good chance that while Alphys might be wrong, that this human would be fine and could help so many monsters. But it wasn't like she was giving out all this from the goodness of her heart, no it was her heart breaking. A desperate lure to anyone that would help her, did she know that her soul was so desperate that it would give itself away just to be saved? It wasn't right to take advantage of her like that...
> 
> Alphys sighed and started to hum lightly in an attempt to comfort the woman. Thinking on it though Alphys knew that with most humans it didn't matter how they were used, most of those bastards either were anti-monster or silently agreed with them. But the few that weren't? They were worth protecting. Alphys lazily wondered what creative punished Undyne would come up with for her after getting in the way like this.


	39. Consent

Papyrus smiled as Sans was willing to listen though he wanted to defend himself about not keeping him in the loop. But knew he had no right to do so rather than making it awkward papyrus just started to move towards Undyne's computer room. Sans followed behind his brother while stomping his feet and making a huff about all this. Papyrus pulled out a cigarette on the walk over there and nearly finishing it quickly.  
  
Iniside the room Undyne would give Papyrus a glare for his smoking but was too stressed over other things to care. A hand was in her hair as Undyne sat in front of all her monitors turned to security cameras. Sans only saw the three of them in one room and Alphys or the woman wasn't on any of the rest. Papyrus spoke up first. "Brought Sans for us to talk too, guessing you can't find them right?" He asked and Undyne sighed in reply before looking back at the screens.  
  
For a moment Undyne shifted the views on the monitors and hummed annoyed not finding anything. "Of course not, this is Alphys we are talking about. When she wants to disappear no one can find her, at least I know that she is still in the lab." Shifting up Undyne typed a few things and moved some of the monitor views around. Quickly bringing up the moment Alphys was carrying the woman, staring up at the camera then ducking under it. Disappearing from view and by the time the camera turned it was just a blank wall. "I'm guessing that she climbed into a ceiling tile but who fucking knows."  
  
Sans stood there just imagining how long Alphys has been under surveillance from her girlfriend so know how to do that. He had never really thought about it before, everyone knew Undyne used an obscene amount of cameras to spy. But living with someone that does that too you? Hell he was only video taped for so long and it drove him nuts when he was captured. Sans couldn't imagine years and part of him started to feel for Alphys. But also a creeping anxiousness made his soul beat harder.  
  
_He could just imagine one of those screens turning into the rooms from the Guardship research lab, almost expecting to see himself in one._  
  
Sans growled in what appeared to be impatience but rather at the imagine that was forming in his mind. The two would look back at him with tired expressions, knowing that they needed to get started. Worried Sans would just leave the room if they didn't so putting aside the hunt for Alphys, Undyne would turn the screens into various reports and soul research. Nearly every Royal Guardmen alive or dead was listed with soul traits, color, power, and notes on acceptance.  
  
Scrolling through Sans profile was brought up showcasing each boost attempt and various notes on each interactions. As well was notes on what he assumed the two knew about how the woman was affecting him. It was bothering him to see just how much he was over analyzing by the two. Finally Undyne brought up a photo on the computer screen of the vial of his magic. It was zoomed in and various bullet points were labeled to even the slightest differences in color. "Why don't you sit down Sans?" Undyne offered as she turned from her computer.  
  
Sans stared up at all the 'evidence' they brought up annoyed. "I'm going to stand." He barked back and folded his arms across his chest. Undyne would glance at Papyrus as if asking him if that was ok, his brother would shurg. Staring Undyne would start explaining.  
  
"As you can see we have the break down of your current sample. At first glance it looks perfect but upon testing I've found the small hint of Papyrus magic still within you from the first boost attempt. Which makes me think you didn't reject his magic from being incompatible but rather- consent. If that makes sense? You were completely against the idea and in an altered mental state." She sighed and brought a side screen up of various dead Royal Guards.  
  
"Some of my first test runs ended up killing monsters unable to accept the magic boost or transfers rather. While this was fixed with machine adjustments something else that was noticed was each having a 'hysteria' with each treatment. Now the gas suppressant causes this already but if their wasn't consent well... I'm surprised you didn't die Sans-"  
  
Sans would cut off Undyne with a loud belligerent tone. "I OBVIOUSLY WAS AGAINST IT! Yet you two tried anyway??!" Papyrus would step in to explain as Sans started getting loud. "At the time we weren't sure about all this, because several times between Raids on Guardship and city attacks- We forced the magic between monsters to save them. The ones that died were chalked up to not getting to them in time, which is why we rushed getting to you. But after studying your sample against others this is what we have come across."  
  
Sans listened to his brother as he felt himself twitch a little in anger. "So what are you getting at with all this now that you know all this?"  
  
Undyne sighed and brought up Alphys profile and sample. The notes on it were extremely lengthily and detailed. "Ignoring the mess caused from the excessive boosts I want you to focus on something Sans. Long ago I gave injections of raw determination from fallen humans. Giving her a boost in power at the cost of her mental control. What I want to note is how these effects were still favorable to having her take a full, still living or recently deceased soul. It didn't change her like what happened to my past experiments."  
  
Undyne closed Alphys page and looked back to Sans. "Do you know why this didn't straight up kill her though? I always figured it was a mix of her strength, maybe her soul trait, just anything. But now that I have this new research I'm starting to realize something-" Papyrus would interrupt Undyne with a sharp tone.  
  
"Hold up, we are getting off track. Stop talking about your girlfriend for a moment." He would demand and Undyne gave him a sour look. But Papyrus would ignore it and continue. "Anyway Sans, what we are getting at is consent is important. As obvious as that sounds it took time to prove scientifically. And if we are going to help you get to this?" He would point to the screen with his sample on it. "Then we need to make sure you and that human are ok with it. And we want to prove to you that she will be ok during the process as well as you."  
  
Moving over Papyrus would try and bring up a video recording of the first and only time the woman had been hooked up to the booster. Before it would start playing Sans dropped a stern question.  
  
"Is this safe enough to do to Chara?"  
  
Both of the taller monster froze and didn't asnwer Sans quick enough. "It's not, then why should I trust anything that you wouldn't do to Chara? She doesn't matter to either of you, and that's fine. None of you have to give a shit about her but at least respect her as the person that saved my damned life." Sans spat at the two and Papyrus quickly reacted.  
  
Stepping forward Papyrus would try to quickly salvage the conversation. "We do, that's why we are even bothering to explain, to ask both of you Sans!" He would lean and and Sans flipped him off not moving. "Fuck off Papyrus I'm tried of your damned lies right now." The two would start getting in each others faces.  
  
Undyne would calmly open a locked drawer and pull out a pack of cigarettes. "Papyrus shut the fuck up for a second." When the skeleton in question looked up the smokes were tossed at him. Eagerly he would grab them like he had not had any in weeks. "Now I'm going to explain this, and you aren't going to interrupt got it Papyrus?" Undyne spoke with a cold and harsh tone.  
  
Papyrus would already be lighting his first one while answering. "Your going to fucking explain in a way that he is going to get the wrong idea Undyne." She would hum for a moment as she watched him light up, then glance over at Sans. "You already lost him, he isn't going to agreed. And you might as well tell him the truth because of that."  
  
"Your a bitch." Papyrus spat and teleported away.  
  
"And your a coward." Undyne calmly replied to the emtpy space that Papyrus filled just a moment ago.  
  
Looking back at Sans she would sigh and lean back in her computer chair, clasping her hands together and resting them near her mouth. "As I was saying, consent." Sans glared at her but listened. "It doesn't fucking matter, sure if both parties are right there and alive but let me ask you something." Undyne would pull out the original test sample in her hand. It glowed so brightly it was like the light in a dark room. "Did you consent to that human woman giving her energy into this sample? No, you didn't. Know why?"  
  
Sans had to tear his gaze form the vial and back to Undyne to asnwer. "No I don't, but you knew that so get on with it."  
  
Undyne would hum in thought and shake the vial a little. "Because this portion of your magic had been separated from you, and from your consent. And the longer it goes without being connected to you the most it just becomes a pool of energy rather than you. Normally this process can take months or even years depending on the size, like a full soul, down to a drop of energy. It does hold onto the thoughts of the individual right before being extracted thought."  
  
Sighing loudly Undyne would put again the vial. "That's why most of my determination experiments didn't work. You think those humans that died would be happy to be used like I did? No, and it had not been long enough with just large samples. But you willing gave this sample, she willing helped us with the test sample. And it worked, so well."  
  
"So what does this even prove? Is this really just about getting me to understand that we are a good match? Because yeah I figured that one out by now. But I still think it's a terrible idea." Sans explained as he felt a bit more calmer, not that he liked what was going on but at least Undyne was treating him with respect unlike this brother was.  
  
"Partly that and I want you to understand that me and Papyrus are trying to respect you two. Because as I was explaining, there is a way to get around consent. Which bring me into my second idea, which I'm sure you going to say no but hear me out." Sans growled in reply but listened. "She has a kindness soul, one that has been proven to work well with monsters.-" Undyne paused for a moment searching for her words.  
  
"Someone that is already off the radar so to speak. Someone that we can protect from Guardship and keep within the border of the monsters territory. In return we can take small samples and save them for emergency use-"  
  
"Fuck off." Sans spat but Undyne continued.  
  
"Given time her consent wouldn't carry over and can be used to save the lives of our Royal Guard and anyone affect by domestic attacks-"  
  
"Shut the fuck up." Sans snapped and Undyne gave him a tried look.  
  
"While I can confidently say she would survive these extraction sessions, not getting any worst either given time between sessions to recover- she would most likely be locked in her current health situation, unable to get better than she is."  
  
"She is not some resource that you can just farm damnit. And how dare you suggest doing this to me? You just preached respecting both of us yet THAT is your plans??" Sans would toss his hands up in anger. Undyne would give him a cold stare.  
  
"Sans the Captian of the Royal Guard would not give two shits about some humans being experimented on. That being said, I know you have changed but- How do you feel about other humans? Has she changed you so much that you care about them all? Or is it just her?" Undyne would stand and start to loom over the short skeleton. "If we started taking prisoners of war, Guardship. Down into the lab, ripped pieces of there souls out and stripping them of consent. Using them as portable boosts, would you still be against that? Even if we never touched your precious little human."  
  
Sans took a step back as Undyne got closer to him. He could feel sweat appearing on his skull as something within him screamed out. Knowing full well he really didn't care about others, especially Guardship. Hell part of him laughed at the idea since Guardship used him almost the same way. But that other part of him- "What would be the difference between us and them?"  
  
Undyne loomed heavily over Sans as her face slowly broke with a psychotic look. "None, only who survives in the end. That's all that matters."  
  
Sans felt locked in as he didn't know how to reply, two mixing emotions tossed within him. Undyne would back off and talk as she walked back to her chair. "But I already know you would say no, but I did say I would explain. I'm sure you feel conflicted, everyone does. But you don't have to have that stain your soul, if it happens it will be on my hands. Which I'm fine with." She would sit back down and relax with a loud sigh. "But if you ever want a favor, now you know I'll take payment in warm bodies." She spoke in a joking tone.  
  
"So we are basically done here, but I want to know. Are you feeling conflicted because you have changed from your experiences being captured by guardship? ... or can you feel anything from her in you? I'm assuming she would be against this, does her soul energy pull at you? Or is it fully absorbed?" Undyne paused to read Sans expression but didn't give him time to reply. "You don't know... and you aren't going to for a while. But if you want to put me in a position to owe you, give me a report later when you figure that out. It will help with my research."  
  
Sans stared at her while his mind seemed to lock up. He did feel conflicted and yes he didn't know why. The worst possible punishment wasn't good enough for those bastards, so them suffering karma shouldn't be an issue right? Was it true? Was her soul affecting his right now? He couldn't feel her though, neither the evergreen aura or the voided desperation. It was some sort of fear... but of what? It would be laughable to think he feared that sin on his soul, that was already ruined-  
  
Looking back up Sans saw the screens shift as Undyne was checking something. Suddenly the two could see Alphys and the woman floored with Papyrus approaching them. For a moment Alphys was able to swat away his brother but he was able to sneak up on them. In a flash the three would appear in the room. Alphys and the woman dropped down struggling to catch there breathe. The woman more so as she held her throat and coughing desperately. Papyrus just carefully backed away from Alphys and continued smoking. "Brought them back Dyne." Papyrus causally said and everyone would watch Undyne as she stared down at Alphys. "Did you not realize the air vents in the ceiling were closed off? I'm surprised you two didn't pass out."  
  
Alphys spoke with a horse tone. "There weren't before- you turned them off-" She would cough again as Undyne hummed.  
  
"Wouldn't have seen you two for days if not, even still. You stayed hidden for quite a while. I missed you." Undyne spoke in a flatly, unfeeling tone. During this Sans would dart down for the woman to support her as she could barely keep herself upright. Her face was pale and her eyes glazed over from struggling to get air. Undyne spoke loudly. "Feel free to take her out of here for air Sans, not like your brother is going to stop smoking."  
  
Sans looked up at the tense room as if to confirm but no one spoke. Scooping up the woman Sans would rush the door, unlocking it and quickly moving out. At first he wanted to take her outside, but couldn't. So he moved to the most open room in the lab and sat her down. Letting the woman hold onto him as she slowly regain the control over her breathe. The hands she used to cover her mouth were speckled with blood from just how hard she had been coughing.  
  
Frustrated the woman would weakly try to slam her fist down on her own leg. Sans just saw how fed up she was with all this. It seemed as if one way or another she was just being tortured constantly. He could only imagine how against it she was after all this- and he realized what that fear he had was. He was afraid of her reaction-  
  
Would she hate monsters if they started farming humans for whatever Undyne was planning? Would she hate him? An annoyance bubbled inside of him at that thought. Would she protest even if it was only Guardship they used? It angered him in an ugly way to think that she would defend them against what was basically karma.  
  
But he didn't know if she would be like that... and he was afraid to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Undyne sighed as Sans and the human left. Papyrus hummed and turned to the fish wanting to ask but just shut his mouth, Alphys was in the room after all. "Papyrus? Can you help Alphys to the couch? It would be better for her than the ground." She continued to use a cold and emotionless tone. Hearing this Alphys just stumped down defeated, letting herself be guided around. After a few awkward moments Papyrus got the hint to leave the couple alone.
> 
> A few more tense moments past before one of them moved. Undyne would start unbuttoning her shirt to fall over her shoulders. Exposing part of her chest along with several horrid scars and the nearly destroyed gills on her neck. Alphys only glanced up before the guilt hit her. Knowing full well long ago that she did that to Undyne... and if she argued it was going to be used against her.
> 
> "Alphys... I want to do something to you." Undyne would carefully walk over to Alphys while leaving herself exposed. Gently she would sit in Alphys lap and bring her hands up to gently caress her girlfriends neck. Alphys sighed and just held Undyne enough that she didn't fall while Undyne started touching her. "I know." Alphys spoke defeated.
> 
> Undyne would hum sensually and would take one of Alphys hands and rest it on her own shoulder. Forcing Alphys to feel the damaged she once caused. Both of them knowing how these scars caused her HP to be permanently lowered. "It will hurt you." Undyne whispered into Alphys ear. "I know." Alphys replied robotically.
> 
> "Are you going to let me?"  
> "...yes."
> 
> Undyne would lean up and give Alphys a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks babe." She would whisper again before focusing on nipping at Alphys neck and focusing her hands over the most sensitive parts of her girlfriends body. Alphys just sat completely still with no reaction, more focused on what kind of torturous thing Undyne had in mind for later.


	40. First Step Forward

Once Sans was able to get the woman's breathing back under control she would try to sign what happened. But her shaky hands failed to really form words and her gestures still seemed a bit panicked. Frustrated the woman would push herself up and head out of the room, Sans followed as it didn't seem she was running away rather looking for something.  
  
They went back in the room that he saw was on Undyne's computer and noticed the leftovers of the small struggle between Papyrus and Alphys. A few knocked over items as well as the dropped sign language book. While the woman went straight for the book Sans stared at the ceiling title that had fallen to the floor then up at the ceiling itself. "Alphys took you into the ceiling?" Sans asked and the woman nodded as she started flipping through the book.  
  
Climbing a table and pulling himself up Sans stuck his head into the hole and immediately noticed how dry and hot the air inside of it was. Leaning back down he already needed to gasp for air. "How did you two even stay up there?" Sans coughed out and looked back to the woman for an asnwer. She would stand still for a moment as her eyes scanned the pages trying to figure out the best way to sign.  
  
Stress cast over her face mixed with guilt. 'It wasn't like that at first-' The woman signed then flipped back and forth in the book trying to memorize the gestures that she was about to use. 'I know that these are your friends, your family and all of you have treated me so much better than I had been but-' She worried about insulting him and wasn't sure if she should finish, Sans jumped down and hopped over to her. "No, no- we have treated you like shit, this isn't how it should be." He would argue gently to her.  
  
The woman sighed and looked up with pleading eyes. 'I just want out of here, im sorry.' Sans sighed as he looked at her. He completely understood and thought back to what had happened. What his brother did so far, what Alphys did so far, all of them even himself. "I get it, once we can leave you don't have to be here anymore-" Sans would start but find himself distracted by his brother coming into the room. Papyrus was still smoking and had a tired look on his face.  
  
The woman would move herself so that Sans was between her and Papyrus but peeking out just enough to keep an eye on him. This caused Papyrus to pause and stare at the two for a moment before speaking. "Do you know the only reason we all have been stuck in here right? Well it's because we couldn't defend ourselves, we just needed time to recover our magic. So if you think you can defend yourself girlie then you are free to leave at any point."  
  
Sans would pitch in. "You know she can't Papyrus, stop it." He could feel the woman cling a little harder to him for the comment but Sans kept his attention on his brother. "I know, we all do. That's why we took her into the lab with us, to protect her from Guardship. Anyway we all see how well that went-" He would take a large puff of his cigarette before continuing. "But that's why we tried to get her to help peak your strength Sans. Right now Undyne is working on Alphys and if there is anything left I'm next. We are all sick of this situation and if we could just use her to help you Sans then this can end faster." Papyrus would focus hard on the woman.  
  
"If your not ever going to be able to defend yourself why don't you give what you have to the monsters that do? Make yourself useful-"  
  
The woman would cling to Sans even harder as she began to shake. Something papyrus said caused her to become upset and she would just repeatedly sign OK with her scared hand. Sans would turn and grab her hand to silence her. "Stop it." He sharply said to the woman before turning back to his brother. "Stop trying to guilt her, besides I don't want to try so cut this shit out." Sans angrily explained but his brother would just shurg at him.  
  
"I know I know, but I came in here and heard you guys talking about leaving. Just tossing out why is all. Either way we are leaving soon." Papyrus moved his hand into his pockets and fished out a cellphone, then tossed it over to Sans not bothering to walk closer to the two. "Was planning on giving you this earlier but Undyne was being a bitch when we were all talking. I put in a lot of Royal Guard numbers and whatnot in it, since most have had to change their numbers a few times."  
  
Sans effortlessly caught the phone in his hand, noticing how the touch screen was more pressure sensitive than a human phone. Which worked well for his boney hands and was nice to have rather than an old keyboard verison. Papyrus would continue as Sans inspected the phone. "Anyway, the plan is to stay with the Queen for a bit-" Sans would interrupt his brother. "Why can't we just head home? I can easily increase the defenses with traps." Sans explained and Papyrus just let out a deep stressful sigh.  
  
Hanging his head back papyrus wasn't in the mood to explain this. "Right, no one mentioned it. Sooo-" Papyrus started to get awkward. "You know how some bastard from Guardship showed up at the house? Trying to kill us and all that? Yeah ok, well... Alphys killed him and then left the fucking body to rot. I mean we all want to do that but with most monsters locked themselves away in fear of another attack. No one cleaned that shit up. So now our house is a bio-hazard and humans noticed so it got out to the press and last I heard the house got ransacked."  
  
Sans stood there for a moment just confused. Not really understanding how his house got ransacked. But then again someone broke in and almost killed Papyrus. And the whole bottom half of the house was covered in the suppressant, then adding a rotting corpse in the mix. Of course it would be a bio-hazard now for monsters and humans... but they couldn't go back? Papyrus gave a moment for Sans to think before continuing. "And since neither you or me are in good through health to clean that up we need somewhere else to stay... that isn't here. I think we all are getting stir-crazy."  
  
"Then when the hell IS someone going to clean it up?" Sans placed his hands on his face to rub the bridge of his nose while asking. Papyrus snuffed out his currently spend cigarette and lit another on. Letting the bud just drop to the floor next to him. "Well I'd say a royal guard or something but the fact is the press know about a monster killing a 'civilian human in there. It's touchy and no one wants to have that pinned on them. Right now they know it's your house but like... your still missing? Hell even Guardship sorta publiclly claimed you so thankfully the bastards can't blame it on you."  
  
"Go figure, they would do that." Sans complained in a flat tone while Papyrus paused to smoke, not wanting to waste it too much by ranting. "I figured since Alphys and Undyne knew that it got around that I had been found Papyrus." Sans followed up to his brother.  
  
Though papyrus would reply quickly. "Sure a lot of monster know, but Guardship actually doesn't want that getting out since it means they let you escape. Maybe if they found you they could have done some fake 'peace release' for the media but you just dropped off the map to them. Then they started trying to quick kill us by attacking the lab. You know damn well the Queen used that to paint them badly. Sorta like... you know unprovoked attacks after capturing our Royal guard? Kicking the losing side when they are down?" Papyrus paused again to smoke.  
  
"So we need to stay the Queen first before letting you be publicly known... ya know? Check out what she has planned. Same goes for you as well-" Papyrus would glance back down at the woman, who would stare down at the ground. "I know you don't want to come out with who you are and whatnot, but if you can't help us monsters with your power then why not your position? Obviously you know a lot about the inner workings of Guardship with all the pass codes you gave us. And with what they did to you, a human voice on the side of monsters would be a great help to us all. Make humans understand that those bastards aren't above hurting their own kind."  
  
Papyrus stopped as he felt the need to smoke again and watched the woman's reaction. Sans would curiously turn to watch her as well, as much as he wanted to argue with papyrus he stayed quiet. The woman would back up from Sans as he wasn't voicing her defense anymore. At first she avoided looking at the two but was able to gather herself enough to start signing again very slowly. 'I don't want to...' She paused to find the right words. 'Be that person anymore, I just want to leave it all behind' She would try to plea and Sans just felt bad for her.  
  
On the other side though, Papyrus sighed loudly with annoyance. "So you have the chance to aid in stopping this damned war between everyone yet you ignore it because you don't want to face the past? Pretty selfish..." he spoke trying to upset her and it would work. The woman would cast her eyes to the floor and hold herself slightly shaking, not yet crying but just with shame. Sans snapped back to his brother and glared. "Papyrus shut the fuck up, really are you going to start with that shit after what she went through? Or do you not realize huh?"  
  
None of what Sans said seemed to bother papyrus as he lazily smoked. "Whatever... just know the Queen wants to see BOTH of you. Obviously you two can't talk to me so try explaining your complaints to her. We all know how much she likes to hear the word No." Papyrus warned with spite in his voice. Sans took a moment to sigh as he could feel the stress building in him. Remembering that he had not directly spoken to the Queen since before escaping Guardship. He had no idea what kind of mood she was harboring against him for everything that happened which he kinda dreaded finding out.  
  
Though she wasn't the type to blow up at him, no she would just put him on some sort of shitty work regiment if she was angry. She was the type to save her anger for her enemies, and he never would want to be considered one out her fear of her wrath. He could already feel the ass-kissing he was going to need to do. But it wouldn't be too terrible and it wouldn't be the first time either. Glancing at the woman he wondered what kind of reaction the Queen would have for her? Depends on how much Toriel knew about her he guessed.  
  
Most likely everything Undyne knew since the fish was a lot better about reporting back. Was papyrus also reporting back actively? Normally he would do so in place of his brother but it made Sans wonder if he started too while he was captured. But then again the woman had not told much about herself so it's not like the Queen would know much either. So he didn't need to worry too much for now. Sans sighed again... yeah only for now.  
  
Looking down at the woman she still remained standing with her eyes cast down at the ground by her feet from the comment Papyrus made. And Sans just felt... conflicted, he ended up turning back to Papyrus. "Thanks for the warning." Sans spoke a somewhat sarcastic yet nervous tone. Papyrus paused for a moment and looked a bit surprised by Sans comment but work up a half smile while smoking. "No prob." The taller skeleton mumbled before teleporting out of the room. Sans vaguely wondered how he had enough magic to do so.  
  
Turning back to the woman Sans sighed and would wordlessly guide her to the couch in the room. The both sat for a moment and the woman tightly held her book against her chest. Sans realized quickly that the subject they were avoiding was being a huge elephant in the room so to speak. Sans would start once he worked up the nerve to so do. "So I don't agreed with my brother that it's selfish... but I think it would be good for us to let everyone know what happened. Just maybe it could help in ending all this..."  
  
The woman didn't move to sign but her face curled in a painful expression as her thoughts plagued her. A far of look as if she was remembering something that she wished that she didn't. Sans would continue. "You dont... have to go out there as who you use to be. Because you aren't anymore, you aren't a part of that group and I'm sure... what has happened changed you. Maybe letting it all out will help put who you use to be to rest?" He would try his best to word it in a way that she might agreed too, something that wouldn't make her feel like she was returning back to the past.  
  
Sans would pull out the phone that Papyrus just gave him. "Wasn't I suppose to help you find a new name? Heh... we can figure out something good and start with that." He would give her a half smile but it fell as he looked back to her. Something on her mind was making her pale slightly. "Whats wrong...?" Sans asked carefully to her.  
  
She would lower the book to her lap and open it to a random page before sighing. 'I'm afraid.' She paused signing and just stared out blankly at the room. "I know but we can-" Sans would try to follow up but the woman's hand suddenly jumped up and smacked over his mouth while the other would Shh over her own. 'Let me explain.' She signed slowly as she spelled out the words. A small panic rose in Sans from having something over his mouth but she would remove her hand way before it caused any issues. Though he wouldn't say anything in reply, just stare at her and wait.  
  
Sighing the woman flipped through a few pages to land on something she needed to use to guide her words. 'I did something awful and it might come out if I-' She paused for a moment not to look up words in the book but to find them within herself. '-go public?' She paused not sure if that was the right way to say it.  
  
Sans gave her a sympathy look as he thought back to the dream they shared. Was that what she was talking about? Accidentally killing someone, someone that was in fact trying to kill her? He wanted to tell her not to worry about that but how would she feel if she knew that he saw that? He would place a hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "Would you be willing to tell me? What is it? I can't imagine you doing something worst than what has already happened to you." Sans explained and saw how the woman processed it.  
  
She would tense up for a moment at the thought but somewhat relax after. Giving Sans the idea that she was realizing that whatever it was really wasn't as bad compared to Guardship. This seemed to be quickly giving her the strength to talk about it. 'I regret it so much.' She would sign slowly as she needed time to look up the gestures. "I was part of the HHS disaster.' Slowly the woman would look away from Sans in shame.  
  
For a moment Sans just stared at her confused. It took a moment for him to remember what that event even was... but it would come back to him. It was one of the last peaceful meeting between humans and monsters before tension got out of control. None of the monsters that went were ever recovered. Along with several humans dead. Sans could clearly remember reading a report about it and how no one knew what caused it. It was just blamed on the meeting going... horribly wrong.  
  
What made it worst is the fact that there was no where near enough dust for the amount of monsters missing. Later the Royal Guard would start looking into why that was... why he ended up inside of a Guardship building... Why the royal Guard started hunting down every bastard they could when they found dust covered cells...  
  
Leaning away Sans was in shock because he didn't understand. What did she mean that she was a part of it? What kind of 'part' was it? Just someone in the wrong place, wrong time? Was she one that planned that out? Did she aid in kidnapping monsters? Sans could remember once debating if she helped in the creation of the gas suppressant. If she was... that would be how she got monsters to test it on. But he didn't know for sure... He also remember telling her and  himself that it didn't matter.  
  
  
Now it did matter.  
  
  
Sans started to feel an anger build in him as he wanted to blame her for... he didn't know. Everything? But he was able to to keep himself from blowing up and spoke in a strained tone. "What did you do?" The woman flinched at the anger in Sans voice and didn't met his eye. The fact she couldn't even look up at him was just even more telling how she was guilty. Weakly the woman raised her hand almost like she was afraid but started to sign anyway. 'When I helped organize the event I never thought they would take it that far...' She would start to explain.  
  
"But it sounds like you knew something was going to happen right? Was the damned gathering just a set up then?" Sans snapped back at her which caused her to lower her head even more. She would weakly nod to confirm his suspicion. Quickly Sans would stand up off the couch while digging his claw into it. He stared wide eyed and defensive towards her. He wanted to just start screaming at her... she might have not meant to but she help start a chain of events that caused everything that happened to him. And she knew something was going to happen when she did all that. It didn't matter how guilty she felt so many monsters are dead because of that chain of events.  
  
The woman would close the book and hold it held against her while curling up into a ball. She wasn't defending herself but trying to just hide from the shame. Her body relaxed as it expected Sans to lash out, just ready to take any punishment. And Sans was just so temped to take out his frustration out, maybe just yell, maybe more. But he held himself in place with great difficultly and just looked at her for a moment.  
  
A broken version of what she use to be... muted, defiled, helpless. She had already gotten her punishment for what she did right? Did he really need to add to that or would it just be for his sake? Staring at a target to blame that he could actually reach and hurt, someone to lash out on. What good would it do now? Growling loudly Sans turned back fell back down on the couch and held his hand over his face. He realized that if she had never helped him, if he didn't care about what happened to her. He would just try and hurt her... maybe kill her right now. For now? He just needed to sit down for a moment and think.  
  
'I regret ever doing that.' She would sign low down as she barely raised her hand. Sans snapped back coldly. "You still did it." And looked at her out of the corner of his eye to see her sign Yes. Taking a deep breath Sans just tried to calm down though he was temped to leave just to beat on a training dummy. But the two sat in silent as Sans tried to collect himself.  
  
He wondered  how could he even move forward with this. At least now he knew why going public would be a bad move. Monsters wouldn't trust her finding out, humans would question her words. Sure she might have some dirt on Guardship that they could use but all this could end up being so much worst for them right?  Sans sighed again as something else  bothered him. Just how did he feel about her? Sure all this is bad if it out out but-  
  
Glancing over Sans didn't know if he felt like shoving her away or taking his anger out on her. But besides doing that what else could he really do? Move forward right? He knew that was the right asnwer but it was hard to imagine. Could he do so in the same way he was before? "Hey." Sans spoke up and breaking the silence between the two which cause the woman to finally look up at him. "Your not a part of them anymore right? And you said you regret what happened? Are you still giving up like back in that room I met you in?" Sans paused but didn't give enough time for her to reply. He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his legs in a thinking position.  
  
"You want to move past this right?" Sans asked and glanced just enough to see her sign Yes again. "Ok... even if you don't go public, or if you do. You agreed to move forward... right?" The woman would let out a aired sigh but he was able to figure out by her face that she meant Yes again. Leaning back Sans whipped out his phone. "Then lets start now, starting with a new name." Just as he started pulling up a search Sans noticed a small whimpering noise.  
  
The woman would look like she was about to cry as she sign. 'I don't deserve one anymore-' As she tried to finish Sans tossed a couch pillow at her with a decent amount of force, not enough to hurt her but it caused her to yelp and hold the assaulting pillow. "Your moving forward, you need a name so shut up." He complained and his tone haven't improved which the woman just froze and didn't make a sound. But as Sans started browsing he began to calm down.  
  
Soon after the woman would relax as well and open up her book to practice. Sometimes Sans would notice random gestures but she mostly focused on letters and spelling out words. But he would focus back on names, sometimes mouthing them trying to see how they sounded. Other times he would find one he liked and then looked to see if the name was associated with something bad. But after a while he settled on something and brought it up on his phone to show her.  
  
Lucida  
_The brightest star in a constellation._  
  
Instantly Sans felt embarrassed and debated if the name was bad, corny, or something else. But the woman smiled at the name though would remain hesitant. 'That is too good for me.' She would sign and Sans huffed at her. "So your saying I would give you a bad name? I think it can fit." Sans spoke more confidently and the woman slightly chuckled as much as she could anyway. At first she didn't reply so Sans continued. "Will that work for you? Lucida?" Sans called out using the new name.  
  
The woman smiled and quickly signed with more energy. 'Yes. Thank you.' Before  using a hand to wipe away any emotion that was starting to leak from her eyes. And Sans felt good, it was filling to see her smile and to give her something that was now all her own. After everything that was ripped away from her Sans knew she needed it. No matter how he felt about who she use to be or what she did in the past. At least this felt right.


	41. Lost Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for all the support and helping me make it to this point! This story wouldn't be what it became without all you! We now come with fanart! Thank you again Icarus for the lovely artwork and thank you LadyMalice for the awesome commission! Links below:  
> https://icarussart.tumblr.com/post/187322793094/wordless-waking-up-from-what-was-expected-to-be-a  
> https://xladymalice.tumblr.com/post/187845550069/digital-art-commission-doodle-sfr-sans

The two sat together but separate ends of the couch for a while. Each keeping a small smile on  their faces. The woman practicing mouthing her new name even though she couldn't speak it, while teaching herself how to sign it. Sans noticed her also signing various words among stars, space, light.  But seemed overall relieved as she worked.  
  
Sans would occasionally glance at her but he kept himself glue to his new phone. Slowly he started logging into the undernet before realizing how bad of an idea that was. Having to remind himself that he was still 'missing' from the world. Taking to just checking on the status of his own profile as well as others offline. Though it would take a sour turn quickly as a lot of places assumed he was dead. It didn't take long for Sans to start down the rabbit hole of seeing what people say about you after you died. Quickly needing to just close the page as he began to get a headache.  
  
The woman- Lucida would move a bit closer to see what was making him look bothered but only caught a few words before he closed the page. She would give him a disappointed look but Sans didn't want to open it again. Though another thought came to him. "Look." He spoke softly and started scrolling through various news articles, but that wasn't what he was trying to show her. "Now you try." He asked her as he handed Lucida the phone.  
  
Taking it softly she would try to see what he was showing her but the phone wouldn't scroll. And Sans getting a slightly chuckle over watching her figure out just how hard she had to press to scroll but not so hard that it opened a link. The mood would sour as she mistakenly opened a page.  
  
_"Monsters Finally Returning After Counter Strike By Guardship! Are the Guard Wars Starting All Over Again?"_  
  
There was a lot of questions that came to the minds of both of them but they wordlessly agreed to just close the page with a sigh. Soon Lucida would be handing back Sans his phone but he didn't really feel the need to go playing around with it anymore. It continued to be a few quiet moments before the two heard something. It was a sort of crashing sound?  
  
The two started to stand to see what was going on and before they knew it Papyrus appeared in front of the two. "What-?!" Sans started but was grabbed along side Lucida and the three were teleported away. For a moment... Sans saw a flash of colors fighting to mix. But then would suddenly appear within the Queens mansion. Shell-shocked Sans just stared out as to why they were here.  
  
Papyrus would stand quickly as he dumped the two on the floor after the teleport. Already pulling out something to smoke. "Fucking bitch, she is god damn crazy..." He seemed to be shaking as he moved. Sans jolted up and grabbed Papyrus' arm. "What the hell is going on?" He would glare down his brother and Papyrus just gave a conflicted and hurt look, not meeting his brothers eyes. "Undyne just being a bitch, don't worry about it." Pulling his arm away Papyrus would put some distance between Sans.  
  
Sans looked offended. "Don't worry about what? The hell did she do that you teleported us out of the lab?" As Sans spoke he suddenly realized who else was missing... Alphys. Papyrus watched carefully as Sans face changed into a mix between horror and shock. But Papyrus would teleport away, not wanting to deal with answering it. But for Sans it just confirmed something happened. Quickly he was already texting then calling Alphys but he didn't get a reply. Switching he would text his brother who thankfully replied.  
  
"Did Undyne do something to Alphys??"  
"Don't worry, Undyne just gave Alphys a boost, but it went a bit sour so we need to give them space."  
"What do you mean 'sour'???"  
  
Sans now stopped getting replys and held his phone tightly just staring at it. Just trying to imagine what Alphys was going through since he knew first hand how bad it really could be. But also why did she get a boost right now? She was recovering just like him? It clicked in his mind something Papyrus said. That Undyne was going to work on Alphys then maybe Papyrus? Was that the reason a bad boost happened? And why did they need to leave really? He didn't believe that they 'needed space' or whatever.  
  
Lucida would bring herself up and lightly touch Sans arm as she looked over at his phone to read the messages. Sans didn't mind her looking and focused himself on where the two were. It looked like one of the many hallways of the Queen's personal mansion. This is where Papyrus said they were going to stay anyway? He sighed heavily which cause Lucida to look up at him confused. "We are in the Queen's personal home... meaning we got to introduce ourselves..." Sans looked down at the him and the woman.  
  
Though he noticed that she was able to still hold onto her book during the teleport. He was more focused on the fact he was still in some long borrowed shirt and she was still in some ruined dress.  While Sans figured he could get away with it would be best to change. Knowing he needed to explain things as they went along Sans took her hand and guided her. "Since my loving brother left us basically with nothing. So I'm going to take us to get some real clothes first." Lucida would nod and let herself be guided along.  
  
Sans quickly strode through the emtpy hallways of the mansion with ease and familiarity. They thankfully were colored and he didn't know if he would lose his mind right now if they were white. Taking the easiest path to the storage area, having a few extra clothing and various linens meant for any guests staying. Each piece was made of fine silk and cloth while being decorated with the royal crest. Sans would take out the smallest size of anything that looked close to a guard uniform. Ending up wearing a mostly solid black button up shirt, dress pants, and a red crest on the side of his arm. Somehow still looked like a nobleman without trying.  
  
The woman would hold a few pieces but get distracted by the hyper quality of each item that she wasn't picking out anything. And Sans didn't want to insult the Queen by mistaking overdressing Lucida, annoyed that he didn't know if that was something the Queen would even find insulting. Slowly he help her pick out a slim but flowy dress that while still extremely nice didn't scream wealth. And since the dress fit was already loose adding to the fact of her lack of curves from being nearly starved she ended up looking flat as a board. It too had the royal crest on it.  
  
Exiting the room Sans was about to use his phone went he caught sight of a mirror in the hallway. It was a simple decoration but looking in it Sans saw himself once more. The scar on his face had not closed much at all and nearly had taken his whole eye socket along with it. The eye light that he did have within his good eye glowed a bold white but was lacking powerful magic, but at least it wasn't dim like he saw before. Seeing himself Sans felt... distant. As if he wasn't sure if that was himself or he didn't process what he had become. It was a far cry from his Guard leader days.  
  
Lucida noticed him staring and she would look at herself as well. But spent a lot less time doing so and Sans could tell she had not comes to terms with it either. But it did make him wonder just how much she had changed since everything happened. So far he has seen her at her worst and only watch her improve even if it's been slow going. Either way the two didn't stay near the mirror for long and continued down the hallway. Sans would start the call he meant to before getting distracted. Toriel answered after only a few rings.  
  
"This is Sans. I am sorry to bother on such short notice my Queen but I have been dropped off by my brother within your estate. I figured at your convenience I should speak with you since I'm here, I also want to inform you I have brought someone with me." Sans would start off loud and strong with his tone and he could hear the Queen hum in thought for a moment.  
  
"Stay where you are and I will send for you quickly- ah Chara!" She would start speaking with a regal and formal tone before the human in question distracted her. After a moment of silence she would chuckle. "I will see you soon Sans." This time using a much softer motherly tone before hanging up. Sans couldn't help but smile as well as he thought about the little ambassador. Putting away his phone Sans turned back to Lucida still holding his tired smile.  
  
"So Papyrus said we need to speak with the Queen, Toriel. I'm sure she just wants an update on a few things-" Sans poke but would notice Lucida's increasingly worried expression. "Don't worry I'll be right there." Sans would try to comfort but really he didn't know how the Queen would react to Lucida and was betting on her not knowing her. But it only eased some of Lucida's worry. The two stood in place for only a few minutes before the quick paced tapping sounds of someone running echoed past them.  
  
Sans turned to see Chara rounding the corner and running down the hallway. It was good to see kid again as they had grown since leaving the mountain but Sans was still taller than them. And while Sans expected it he still needed to brace himself as Chara slammed into him with a hug. "Sans!" They spoke loud but softly, as if they haven't spoke in a while.  
  
"Didn't you just see me at your dads? Remember he was healing me then." Sans would gently remind the kid but that didn't stop them from rubbing their face into his shirt while hugging tightly. Gently Sans would stroke their head and run his fingers through their hair. After a moment Sans would break the hug and gesture over to Lucida. "Chara, I want you to meet-" Chara would jump from Sans causing him to pause as he watched the kid.  
  
Chara would open their arms wide as if they were going in for a hug like they already knew Lucida but freeze completely still mid-movement and instead offered a hand to them. "Nice to met you! I'm Chara!" They spoke softly but with a bright tone. It was an awkward moment but the kid tried to play it off the best that they could. Lucida smiled and shook the kid's hand quickly then let go to sign. 'Hello, I am Lucida.' Sans noticed how the woman was able to swiftly asnwer as if she had practiced it a lot.  
  
Chara knowing nodded with a bright smile and would reach out for her hand again. "My mom wants to met you! Lets go together ok?" Lucida stared down at the kid's light and cheerful face and felt a little more at easy, focusing on them rather than what might happen with the Queen. Since Lucida was still holding her book and now along with Charas hand she couldn't sign anymore but would look over to Sans with a nervous smile. Sans just sighed and returned the smile. "Yeah lets go met Toriel."  
  
During the walk Lucida kept looking around at the various expensive decorations  within the Queen mansion which made Sans wonder if she had ever been around such riches before. Though Chara would just keep happily pulling the woman along not giving her time to take it all in. Following behind Sans took a moment to really look at Chara and realized that they were... nervous. Granted they were hiding it well with a cheer smile, happy tone and Lucida couldn't tell the difference but Sans knew the kid too long to be fooled.  
  
Sans also noticed the lack of anyone else in the building, where were the guards? Granted he use to be the one that mostly stayed with the Queen so Sans wasn't sure who ended up taking that role when he wasn't around. But it all seemed a bit strange though it wouldn't take long to reach the Queen's meeting room. The large doors where lavishly adorn with the royal crest craved into it. Lucida paused as she started to panic a bit and slightly hyperventilate. Sans moved to comfort her but Chara pulled the woman slightly to direct her attention towards them.  
  
Sans thought he saw a red spark of magic in the kid's eyes they they spoke. "Don't worry, mom is kind and I wont let anything happen to you." While Chara used a cheerful voice it also seemed flat like a someone would use to give a thinly veiled threat or command. Chara also didn't let go of Lucida's hand so without a free one she was let to just nod at the kid. But Sans just felt most nervous watching this exchange. "Alright lets go." He spoke and would open the door for the two of them before quickly standing straight in guard position. Show time.  
  
The inside of the room was almost set up like the Queen's throne room besides the addition of conference tables to each side, but one could still walk straight up to her 'throne' as before from the door. "Greetings my Queen, it is a please to finally see you after everything." Sans spoke loud and firm, quickly bowing  his head lightly after speaking. Then moved to the side for the two to come in. Chara not letting go would drag Lucida into the room and past Sans.  
  
Toriel got a dark look on her face seeing the two run in without greeting but Lucida still had her hands too full to sign thanks to Chara. "Come here my child." Toriel spoke in a gentle but commanding tone and Chara pretending to be oblivious brought Lucida along when that tone was only meant for chara to come alone. Sans carefully followed behind until the two stopped in which he would stand at attention to the side but slightly in front of them. Sans bowed once more before speaking. "This is the person I had mentioned on the phone-"  
  
Moving a hand over Sans would gesture to the woman but almost lose face noticing the intense look on Chara's face and just how bright their red eyes seemed. Those eyes stayed locked in gaze with Toriel. "I introduce Lucida, the human who had help-" Sans would shut his mouth as the Queen spoke over him suddenly. "Quiet." She commanded while ignoring Chara's strong gaze and staring at Lucida.  
  
Confused Sans stare at Toriel as his chest felt like it was being to tighten, he didn't think she was going to do anything but was debating preparing for it. The Queen glare at Lucida in a quiet moment, enough to make the woman start to go pale in fear.  
  
"My greetings Natalia _Linden_."  
  
The queen spoke in such a calm yet hateful tone, it echoed so loudly in the room as everyone else went completely silent. While Sans didn't quite remember the first name he was stopped at the last name. He shouldn't be surprised... she had mentioned Guardship being family, was it such a surprise that she shared that family name? No what was more shocking for him more was the fact the Queen knew, the Queen recognized her, the Queen's... expression. Sans glance back at the two.  
  
Lucida's face was extremely pale as she had started a cold sweat, the hairs on her body were standing straight up with goosebumps. She was paralyzed in shock and shaking slightly the only thing keeping her rooted was holding chara's hand. In which Chara had a vice grip on the woman's in return.  
  
Chara wore a dangerous smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I want everyone to know I'll be doing Inktober as writing prompts, uploaded (hopefully) everyday. These will be short dabbles/chapters going over Natalia's past! They will contain light spoilers for Wordless but if your interested in how Natalia became the woman Sans met in Chapter 1 then feel free to give it a read <3  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/20767043/chapters/49347071


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